Never Eat Red Snow
by MsGingerMoose
Summary: Family is everything to Detective Don Flack, but is his sister a victim or a suspect? Mostly Flack, Danny and OC, though everyone is featured at some point...*grins* ...Rating for swearies and general CSIness...
1. Good Morning New York

**This is my first fic I've posted up, however its not my first CSI one. Started a Miami one thats kinda come to a halt :( This first chapter is quite short but it is really just an intro. Anyway! I hope for a first post this is okay! Been obsessed with all 3 CSIs for ages now and thought I just had to have a go! Enjoy! :D**

It was January in New York. The Christmas period was definitely over and everyone in the New York Crime Lab building were well and truly back to working hard. Two women stood in an elevator. One younger than the other, who had shoulder length, dark brown, wavy hair gave a sigh.

"What's up Aiden?" the older women asked, pulling her tight curls back in one sweep over the top of her head. Aiden shook her head and smiled a bitter smile.

"I just can't get over court yesterday, I mean Sanchez still denies burning down his brother's store despite us having all that evidence pointing to him. I hope he goes down for a long time." She folded her arms over her slender body and leaned against the rail. Just then they arrived at their floor and with a ding the doors slid open.

"Ah Stella! Just the woman I was looking for." A man stood in a dark grey suit with a cheery smile on his face and his arms spread. His name was Don Flack. He was a tall man with short, almost black hair. He was also a detective with the NYPD. He had a pen in this left hand as usual. It seemed to be there permanently and Aiden had a funny feeling he may have even glued it there just to make sure. "Morning to you too Aiden." Flack continued. "Good news for you both. The Sanchez jury were called to court early this morning because they came to a decision last night." Stella glanced round at Aiden and then back to Flack.

"And...?"

"Oh, and they found him guilty as charged."

"YES!" cried Aiden "You are good for something Flack! And here I was thinking your only talent was salting the sidewalk outside the building."

Flack glared at Aiden as she practically skipped down the corridor.

"Hey, if I hadn't have done it no one would have n you puny CSIs would have been slippin' all over the street!"

Danny Messer glanced at his stainless steel watch. It read almost ten to nine. He knew he should have gotten on the earlier train but he just didn't want to get out of his nice warm bed, where he was snuggled next to his nice warm girlfriend. Then the shower was too hot and steamy for him to want to get out onto the cold tiled floor. The thought of having to get on the subway yet again and have to get to the office through the snow was all too much as he sipped at a hot cup of coffee. Danny snapped back to reality as the train doors on front of him flew apart and he realised he was at his stop. Climbing the stairs up onto the street he was greeted by a light but rather cold breeze. Danny hitched his collar up higher and weaved briskly in and out of his fellow pedestrians.

Two blocks away and 35 floors up, Mac Taylor had just sat down at his desk to open his mail. He hadn't been required to attend any crime scenes since he got in at 8-am. Not yet anyway. It was still rather early in the morning. But so far it seemed it had been a fairly quiet night, for New York at least. He glanced over the top of an letter to see a jubilant looking Aiden waving at him through the front glass wall of his office. Not far behind was Stella, rolling her eyes with a smile as she made eye contact with Mac. He was her superior but Mac regarded Stella's opinion and skill very highly and always involved her to as a high a level as possible.

"What are you so happy about?" Mac asked as Aiden opened his door. She grinned at his bemused look.

"Not only is Michael Sanchez going to jail for quite a while, its started snowing again!"

The snowfall had turned to a blizzard by the time dispatch paged Mac with their first case of the day. A rich Wall Street worker had been found dead in Central Park with no obvious cause of death.

"Aiden, me and you on this one." he said standing in the doorway of the break room. Danny had arrived finally and sat on a sofa pouring over paperwork.

"Good I got this to finish, I'll hang out with Stella and we can take the next one." Danny said as Stella smiled over a cup at him. Aiden was on her feet almost in an instant. She liked being Danny's unofficial partner but working with Mac was great. She loved observing him work and she always learned something new on cases with him.

"See you guys later then." she said and Mac led the way out.

It wasn't long before Stella reappeared in the break room. She pulled her coat on as she put her kit case on the floor.

"Don't tell me we got somethin'?" Danny gave a sigh and thumped his empty mug down on the work surface next to the coffee machine. Stella gave him a sympathetic smile. She knew all too well what it was like to just settle down for a break only to be told she had work to do. But that was just the way their job was and Danny headed to collect his own kit.

"Sounds like a messy one this time." Stella muttered as they stood in the lift. "3 young girls, murdered in their apartment. Flack is on his way there to take over from patrol." Stella glanced at her watch. 10.35. Not to bad a time to be starting the days work. Danny pushed his glasses up his nose a little and heaved a sigh. There was no getting used to hearing that the lives of young people had been taken, but for the most part he had learned to switch off and leave his emotions at home. The two CSIs soon reached the parking lot under the building and were on their way to the crime scene.


	2. Family Matters

The snow was already several more inches deep as they stepped out onto the street in front of the old industrial structure that was now filled with apartments. It was part of a complex for NYU and was used solely for accommodating students. As Danny and Stella approached the entrance, Danny spotted 2 or 3 blood drops in the freshly fallen snow. He snapped a quick photo and took a sample incase it had anything to do with their case. Two uniformed officers stood at either side of the main double doors.

"Morning Gerry. Any idea who called it in?" asked Stella. The shorter man of the two smiled at Stella.

"One of the other students, Billy Petersen. Said he heard a scream, went to check on the girls and no one answered the door. A while later he heard the door slamming and he went to look again. When he spotted blood on the door handle he called 911." The other man lifted the all too familiar yellow tape to allow Stella and Danny into the stairwell.

"Got this whole place sealed. Keeping the other kids in their rooms 'til we sort this out. Its the top floor." Gerry added.

Danny gave a small nod in thanks and they climbed to the 4th floor. However before Stella made it she spotted what looked like fresh blood smeared on the wall.

"I'll collect this, you go on ahead, find Flack and get the info from him." Danny did as he was asked. He found Flack straight away. But instead of being his usual cocky self - questioning neighbours in a cheeky manner or hitting Danny with some insult - he had his arm and head against the wall and seemed uneasy on his feet.

"Yo, Flack, what's goin' on?" Danny asked. Flack turned his head. There were tears shining in his eyes and his face was a nasty shade of off white. His face crumpled as he noticed Danny staring at him with an extremely worried and confused look on his face.

"Dude...what the hell is the matter?!" he questioned. "You are really freaking me out with this one."

"Danny...this is...oh god...this.." Flack could barely speak. He swallowed hard a few times, desperately holding back tears. "This is my sister's apartment." Danny felt like his heart sank right to the floor. It would just make things so much worse knowing that one of the victims was one of his closest colleague - and friend's - sibling.

"Aw man, jeez...I don't know what to say." Danny reached out and put a hand on Flack's shoulder. He closed his eyes and clasped onto Danny's hand.

"My baby sister Danny, she's in there..."

"Ellie, she's the, uh..." Danny almost said 'hot one' before he realised how completely and utterly inappropriate it was. He had met Ellie on several occasions and they had become friends, but he liked to on occasion make jokes that earned him stern looks from Flack. She was Flack's youngest and by far best looking sibling. He had two other brothers and they were by no means pretty. "...she's really in there?"

Flack nodded. He seemed to almost pitch forward and Danny caught him in his arms.

"C'mere big guy." Danny murmured and pulled him into a hug. He could hear Flack sniffing as he clung onto him tightly. After a few moments in Danny's comforting embrace, Flack moved away slowly and gave a cough. "Sorry." he said.

"You got nothing to apologise for. Listen, pal. I gotta get in there, we need to get the evidence while its fresh."

Flack wiped off his cheeks and raised his eyes to Danny. "You take good care of her okay?"

"Sure, I promise."

As Danny stepped through the front door of the apartment he had the incredible urge to drop everything and go back to Flack. He could only presume he saw the carnage in the living room and couldn't go on. He pulled on his rubber gloves and took out his camera. There was a medical examiner crouched over a slender blonde girl who was barely clothed. She was lying in a puddle of her own blood and her eyes were open wide, staring towards her friend, who had been left hanging over the edge of the sofa. She seemed rather over dressed compared to the other girl wearing a hoodie over dark jeans, a scarf and a hat.

"Am I okay to start processing?" Danny asked. The young man looked up at him with a sad and resigned look.

"I've finished with the bathroom. There's another girl in there, I'm not sure of an initial COD so I'm just waiting on the guys with the gurney." Danny swallowed hard. Neither of these young women were Ellie and he wasn't looking forward to collecting evidence around someone he knew. He practically crept to the open bathroom door. His gaze fell on the bath. Naked with water barely up to her waist was Ellie. There was a towel clamped in her right hand that was resting on her chest. Danny thought she possibly grabbed it in a struggle to cover herself. She had done not a half bad job as most of her torso was hidden under the sodden pink towel. Her other hand was draped across her stomach and her head was lolled to her left. He gave a sigh only to jump suddenly at hearing Stella's voice. She was at his shoulder.

"I saw Don, he's not in a good way. I told him to get out of here. I think he's still hanging around though."

"Do you mind if I deal with this room, its just Flack asked me..."

"Of course it is. I'll get on with the living room." Stella replied with a gentle squeeze to Danny's arm.

Taking a deep breath, Danny slowly made his way to the bath. The cold wind was blasting in the open window so he closed it over. He snapped one photo before pulling the towel just a little further down the top of Ellie's legs. He he was worried it was the two newbies who were coming to collect the bodies - hence why they were late - and he didn't want them gawking at her. He reached across to have a better look at bruising on her upper arm. As soon as his warm hands came into contact with her icy skin, what seemed a breath rattled through her body. Danny jumped a little. He had heard of bodies releasing air after death, but instantly realised this was different as she raised her hand and grabbed onto his light blue shirt. Everything seemed to move in slow motion and Danny's reactions completely left him.

"Where's...Donnie?" Ellie lost her grip and her hand splashed back into the shallow water.

"I'll get him, I'll get your brother for you!" Danny jumped to his feet shouting for Flack, Stella, anybody to get him an ambulance as he grabbed for his coat. "Stella, we got a live one!" he added as she questioned what all the shouting was about. Stella flipped open her phone and called for rescue before glaring at the now very sheepish looking medical examiner.

Back in the bathroom, Danny had pulled Ellie out of the bath and onto the floor. He had wrapped her in the dry towel he had found on the floor and was pulling his coat round her as Stella appeared at the door.

"You have to find Don, he always looks after me..." Ellie mumbled as she saw Stella.

"I know he does honey, but this is Danny he'll do just as a good a job. You're in safe hands, I promise." Danny had Ellie propped up against his chest and was rubbing down her arms, trying to generate heat.

"Messer?" A tiny smile made its way to Ellie's rather blue looking lips. "Least I know its not just some creep trying to..." but her head lurched forward before she could finish her sentence.

"Stell, what the hell is keeping rescue, she keeps slipping in and out of consciousness?"

Right on cue, Stella's phone rang. She hung up with a stern look.

"Pile up because of the snow has blocked the road into here from the station. It's gonna take a while."

Danny looked up at Stella before gazing down at Ellie again.

"I don't think she _has_ a while, I'm taking her in the car. I can get to the hospital from the opposite end the ambulance will be coming."

Stella was worried about the scene but a life was in danger and she couldn't bring herself to say anything. Danny read her mind as he picked Ellie off the floor.

"As soon as I drop her off, I'll call Flack and I'll be right back."

"No need to hurry, I'll take over for the time being." Stella spun on her heels to see Sheldon Hawkes, forensic kit in hand. He was one of the head pathologists at the crime lab, but had recently changed over to work in the field. Behind him stood the two medical porters, who had finally arrived.

"All right Hawkes. Perfect timing!" Danny grinned. He enlisted the help of one of the porters to help with doors in the building and on his car. "Okay, let's get her outta here."

Having called ahead to the hospital, Danny found two nurses waiting with a stretcher outside the E.R.

"She's hypothermic but as well as that she was unconscious for unknown reasons." he said as he placed Ellie gently on to the white sheets.

"Hold up there!" Danny heard from behind him. Mac Taylor was jogging towards them as best he could in the snow. "I want you to treat this almost as an autopsy because she can't tell us what happened just yet. I need blood for a tox report, sexual assault kit and all injuries photographed and logged as well as any trace evidence. Detective Messer here will help you with all of that." Mac turned to Danny. "Have you managed to get in contact with Flack yet?" Danny shook his head. "Okay, I'll call him, you get in there with Ellie"

"Mac, thanks for letting me do this - Flack wanted me to look after her." Mac smiled a little.

"Yeah, I guessed that..." He clapped a hand to Danny's shoulder. "Now make sure she's okay and get back to the lab ASAP.

An hour or so later and Hawkes and Stella were back at the crime lab. The bodies had been sent to autopsy and the two CSIs were getting to work on piecing possible events and explanations together.

"Okay, the place was pretty ransacked, possible robbery?" Hawkes was scanning over photographs of the apartment.

"Maybe, but why go to the top floor, surely a getaway would be easier from one of the lower floors?" Stella suggested. Hawkes was reading through a residency list that had just been faxed over from the university. A few moments later he slid his black glasses onto the top of his head.

"Perhaps because all the other apartments have at least one male living in them. If the perp knew it was all girls, they would be an easier target."

"Nice, maybe one of the girls fought back and he sorted them out." Stella looked off out the window. "I just don't understand what happened to Ellie. She was unconscious in the bath with no obvious external injuries."

Hawkes shrugged. "I'll stick with the robbery theory and we'll have to fit Ellie in somehow when Danny gets back from the hospital."


	3. First Results

**Before I go on, I have to thank my friend, Kate, for coming up with the title...I was struggling for a name, as usual, and when she suggested it, I laughed my face off and just had to use it! So thankies muchos Katie...cus I know you'll read this at some point :D**

**Enjoy!**

Mac Taylor was becoming restless. Don Flack was unreachable and Mac could only presume he still didn't know about his sister and had done a panicked runner. A sharp tap on his glass office door made him almost spring out of his chair. Danny Messer stood with a pile of evidence envelopes, he knew they must have come from the hospital. He got up immediately and followed Danny into one of the labs.

"Adam's made up that you put him on that case with Aiden. Since they seem to have it under control, I thought you might want to be in on this. We got a fair whack, I left the sexual assault kit and blood samples in DNA and toxicology while we get on with the rest of it." Danny laid the brown envelopes across the light-box work surface and proceeded to plug his camera phone into the computer to show Mac the photos he took.

"I didn't have my whole kit but I thought digital would be quicker anyway." he said as Mac watched the photos pop up on the monitors that were mounted on the wall. Ellie's body from various angles was on display for them both to inspect.

"After they stablised her, the two nurses and I checked her over thoroughly. I was betting on a head injury but there was no physical evidence, even when I got the old UV light out. I also UV'd the bruising on her arm, _that_ brought out this rather interesting pattern."

"Fingers." Mac said, plainly.

"Yep, someone grabbed her left arm. I couldn't find any prints, but it looks like a fairly small hand - most likely a woman's." Danny added and began to list other things he had found. Traces of a white substance on her other arm, it had been sent to Trace for testing. Blood under her finger nails - possibly from her attacker - it was also in DNA along with samples of a bloody smudge on her face.

"Other than the hypothermia, she seems to be in perfect health. We just need to wait for Tox to tell us if their was anything in her system that could have led to her passing out or wether she just fell asleep in the bath"

--

There was a bit of a back up in the labs and all four of the CSIs on the girls' case were having to wait longer than usual.

"Night shift had a violent bank robbery, so you can imagine the evidence they've had to deal with _and_ left behind for the lab techs this morning. I can't even get in to use the equipment myself and I run this lab." Mac had just about managed a smile as he explained to Stella, Danny and Hawkes why is was taking so long. "I'm going for a break, I think we all might as well get one in since there's not much to do at the moment."

Stella nodded and followed Mac down to the break room. Hawkes told Danny he was going out to meet a friend for lunch and invited him, but he wanted to keep studying the photos that Hawkes had just collected from the dark room. However a few minutes later he had looked round most of them for the 3rd or 4th time and just couldn't see anything new. He gave a frustrated growl and decided a cup of coffee was in order. He jogged down the hall to catch the elevator to the floor below.

As he stepped out, Danny heard sniggering from up ahead. He looked up to see the two young pathology porters with one of the lab assistants. He gave a smirk as he noticed the one who had joined him at the hospital gesturing what he could only assume were big breasts. As he wandered down the hallway to the break room he caught a tiny bit of their conversation.

"Brendan, there's no way Flack's sister is a looker, I mean he's no oil painting!" the lab tech said.

Danny stopped dead to listen. They were doing exactly what he tried to prevent them from doing.

"I'm telling you, she most definitely is. Her legs ain't the skinniest but I got the smallest look of her ass when Messer put her down on that gurney and let me tell you it was..."

"It was WHAT?! Go on asshole, share with the class!" Danny was right in Brendan's face, his own displaying fury.

"Don't tell me you never noticed man." Brendan laughed though his nose, though it was clear he was uneasy with Danny being so aggressive.

"No because unlike you I was doing my job with a bit of professionalism!" Quite a crowd had started to form. Groups of people had stopped their conversations or work and were peering from the office doors, including Mac who stood in the doorway Danny had been heading for.

"Hey, take it easy, man. Chill-ax" the other porter mumbled.

"_He did not just say 'chill-ax'?_" Danny said to himself.

"Professionalism? You know the chick, how can you treat her professionally?!" Brendan was beginning to get defensive. But he instantly realised he should have kept his big mouth shut as Danny grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and threw him against the glass wall. Straight away Mac was striding quickly down the corridor.

"At least I'm not a disgusting little creep! She was inches from death n all you can think about is your dick!" Before the words were barely out of Danny's mouth Mac had a firm grip of the top of his his arms and was pulling him away from the now terrified trainee.

"Stop it." he said through gritted teeth. "You lot, get lost" he added and the three youngsters scarpered.

"You pricks don't got any respect for the dead, how 'bout you go learn some for the living!"

"Danny, shut up. Why did you rise to those kids? You know what they're like." Mac said as he turned Danny round. He was looking at his feet as he had just noticed the audience his little outburst had attracted.

"I just...felt like I had to protect her, Mac." Danny gave a sigh. Mac placed a sympathetic hand on Danny's shoulder.

"Maybe they were right, you are a little too close to this case. You did say you and Ellie were friends." Danny knew exactly what Mac was going to say.

"Please don't put me off the case, I promised Flack and I just _gotta_ find out who did this to Ellie and her room mates."

"You're off the case, not totally" Mac added as Danny went to protest. "You worked late last night and this morning has been trying for us all. Go home and..._chill-ax_, I'll see you bright and early tomorrow."

"Okay, you'll call me the second you hear a thing about Ellie or Don?"

"Sure."

--

Danny threw open his locker and chucked in the things he wouldn't need. He grabbed his wallet and house keys before turning to the coat rack. As he reached for his grey duffle style coat his hand came to rest on the collar. There was a long, dark brown hair draped across it and he stared at it, almost transfixed.

"_You got good style, Messer." Ellie said with a wink. "Very rarely do you find a guy who can actually dress himself." She tossed another shot down her throat._

_Danny grinned. He thought it was quite a comment coming from a clothes expert._

"_And its also very rare to find a girl who drinks the way you do." he replied, taking a swig of his beer from the bottle. She glanced over her black framed glasses at him. Her green eyes sparkled like the stones that were set along the top of them._

"_I'm taking that as a compliment, besides, its old aunt Giovanna's 700th birthday. And my family don't exactly throw the most swinging parties." Ellie gazed round the room. "So I've developed a skill of getting wasted and practically passing out in a corner - unnoticed by the way - with some leftover cake."_

_Danny laughed and shook his head. _

"_Except this time, it looks like a might have a drinking buddy. Care to join me in giggling at nothing in particular? Its not so much fun alone." Ellie held out a sherry glass filled with an acid green liquid. Danny considered for a moment. Flack would most likely kill him, he had already warned Ellie not to get drunk for once. But Ellie's smile got the better of him and he took the glass from her. She gave a triumphant laugh before calling out: "Bottoms up!" _

"Danny you okay?"

"Huh?" Danny gave a jolt. Hawkes had appeared at his side and stood looking at him.

"You've been staring at that coat for a while, anything the matter?"

"Uh, no. I'm fine." Hawkes studied his expression carefully, Danny wasn't one for opening up, but his face always conveyed what he felt. He knew this case was bothering him and for once his emotions were getting in the way.

"Look, Mac told me what happened. Since I know you want to be involved, I'll text you if we find anything interesting in the the autopsy results. I'm going to see Sid and Peyton just now." Sid and Peyton were medical examiners with the crime lab and were performing the two autopsies on Ellie's room mates.

"That would be great, man." Danny thanked Hawkes with a pat to his upper arm and was soon on his way home.


	4. The Tox Never Lies

The red painted door of Danny's apartment was warm and welcoming to him. He slid the key into the lock, wishing Cindy - his girlfriend - wasn't working either. They had had their problems in the past, but they seemed to be back on track and he thought he could really do with a hug. On entering his open plan home, Danny threw his coat over the back of one of his dark blue sofas. As he glanced down at the rug under his feet, he spotted Cindy's high heels in the same spot they had been the night before. A little confused, he jumped as he heard the shower in this en-suite bathroom come on. Walking in the direction of his bedroom he saw more of Cindy's things lying around and realised she hadn't left yet. A cheeky thought of joining her in the shower crossed his mind, but he decided to go change into a pair of jogging bottoms and make them some lunch. As Danny pushed open the bedroom door he expected to see the bed sheets in a mess. What he did not expect, was a rather large, semi naked man under them.

"What the...?" He was cut off by Cindy giving a shriek, as she stood with a towel round her. It took Danny a few seconds to realise the situation in front of him. He stood completely speechless as he looked between the very buff mystery man and his girlfriend. A few moments of extremely awkward silence passed before Danny regained his voice.

"I was...uh, just about to ask, what the hell is going on..." he paused, his voice wavering slightly. "...but, I'd say its pretty clear."

"Danny, baby. I can explain..."

"No, there's nothing to explain. I want you n..._Arnie_ here out of my home. Right now." Despite the rage and sadness and confusion coursing through Danny's entire body, he kept his emotions at bay. This was making an already shit day even worse and he thought if he let himself, he'd probably kill the huge hunk of uber-tanned muscle now scrambling across his bedroom floor. Cindy would most likely suffer the same treatment. And he really didn't want to go to jail over a cheating girlfriend and some bodybuilder.

It seemed to take an eternity for the unwelcome pair to gather up their belongings and Danny wanted desperately to be alone. He didn't know whether to scream, shout, cry or simply smash something. The unnamed man had quickly exited the door as Cindy stood at the sofa, some of her clothes slung over her arms in haste.

"Can I at least talk to you Danny?"

Danny spun to look at Cindy. Anger was now his predominant feeling.

"No, you can't."

Cindy's face screwed up, tears welling in her eyes.

"Oh don't gimme that crap, you have _no _right to cry!" Danny knew there was a distinct possibility that these tears were fake. Many a time Cindy had admitted to pulling the waterworks on her mother and father when she was younger. That was one of the things he had never liked about her; her manipulativeness. But then again maybe she had realised how much she'd messed up, just how much she was loosing or perhaps she merely felt guilty. Whichever way it was, Danny didn't care to find out.

"You did this to me in my _own bed _of all places. I don't want to know how many times, who he is or why. Just get out, I'll mail you anything you've left."

As Cindy gave a last whimper and closed the door, Danny fell backwards onto his sofa. So many thoughts were racing through his mind. Maybe part of him did want to know who, what, when, where and why. But he realised that would only hurt more. Ignorance, in this case, really would be bliss. Then there was the fact that an almost 2 year long relationship was done in a few seconds. But Danny convinced himself that it hadn't really been the same in the past few months, that they were growing apart. And now he knew why.

--

It was early evening before Mac Taylor and his team started to get results from the various labs. Whilst they had been waiting they had either been helping with the bank robbery to speed things up or catching up on paper work. No one was more thankful than Hawkes. He could just imagine Danny becoming extremely impatient at no news. Mind you he had tried calling him after the autopsies, but he couldn't get an answer. Hawkes presumed he must have been resting up.

"Okay, what we got?" he asked as Mac handed him a small pile of paper. A detailed tox report was on the top and he took the sheets off before passing he papers onto Stella. She looked over the other reports.

"Tox revealed diazepam and..." Hawkes paused. That couldn't be right.

"Date rape." Mac finished for him.

"So their attacker drugged Ellie, but not her friends. Was she perhaps a special target?"

Stella interjected with her own question. "Why though? This DNA report says that there was no foreign bloody fluids present to suggest rape and the nurses confirmed that there was no sign of any recent sexual activity, at least not forced. This doesn't make any sense."

A few moments of silence passed before Mac read from a sheet he still had. The white powder had turned out to be heroin.

"Danny didn't detail any features that may have shown drug abuse in this report from the hospital." he turned to Hawkes.

"Can you get him on the phone while I try chase up these blood results?"

"Sure I'll clue him in on the rest of the evidence so far, see if he can't come up with any theories."

Hawkes found an empty layout room and dialled Danny's home number. It rang four or five times before it was picked up. Danny's voice sounded husky on the other end.

"Did I wake you?" Hawkes asked.

"Nah, its uh..." Danny gave a sniff. "...its fine. I guess you got something for me about the case?"

"Yeah, I got lots. We just don't know how to piece it together yet."

Ellie's blonde friend, Crystal, had been stabbed six times in the chest. She bled out very quickly. Frankie, the other roommate, suffered a head trauma. Most likely when she hit her head on the coffee table where they found her blood and a few strands of hair. She had also been badly beaten; her face bruised and swollen. Neither girls had been sexually assaulted and tox showed that Frankie had been smoking marijuana around 24 hours before her death. There was also some alcohol in her system.

Danny sighed. "Anything else?"

"Still waiting on blood swabs to come back, but that white substance you found on Ellie's arm was heroin."

"She's not a junkie." he replied indignantly. Hawkes was taken a little by surprise by Danny's response but pressed on anyway.

"Well thats also why I phoned you. You didn't noticed anything that would indicate that she had been taking heroin, right?"

"No, nothing. No puncture wounds in the obvious places. Surely her tox came back negative?"

"Not entirely negative..."

Danny sat more upright in his seat. "What do you mean 'not entirely'?"

Hawkes explained about the other drugs found in her system and how they didn't have an explanation so far. But before Hawkes could put any ideas to Danny, he spotted a familiar figure race by the door.

"Danny, I gotta go. I think Flack's here."

Sure enough, as Hawkes made for the break room he found Flack with Stella and Mac.

"We've been trying to get a hold of you for hours Don." Stella said.

"Have you been to the hospital yet?"

Flack glanced round at Hawkes. "Why would I go there?" His face was blotched red and his eyelashes had been stuck together by his tears.

Mac leant closer to his colleague. "Didn't you get our messages? Don, your sister...is alive."

Flack stared blankly at Mac for a few seconds, as if disbelieving him. It couldn't be possible. The ME pronounced them all dead at the scene.

"That new kid made a mistake." Mac said, realising what Flack as about to ask. "Ellie's body had started to shut down, her limbs came close to frost bite. Her heart rate would have slowed considerably to conserve the oxygen in her blood. Even someone as experienced as Sheldon here could have thought she was dead if they had checked her over quickly."

Flack seemed to finally give into exhaustion, as he slumped forward onto the desk in front of him. He was sobbing quietly into his hands and Stella wrapped an arm around him. Before Flack could say another word, Mac was pulling his coat on and had dug his car keys out of his pocket.

"Come on, I'm taking you to see your sister."


	5. Awake

As Danny arrived early in the crime lab the next morning, he was unaware that everyone else had been sent home because of the overload of work that the techs had to deal with. When he couldn't find anyone from his team, he went into Mac's office to see if he could find anything new linking to the case. He had no such luck and decided to go wait for Mac, Stella and Hawkes in the layout room.

--

In Trinity General Hospital, Don Flack was slouched in an arm chair outside his sister's room. Her immune system had been monitored overnight and he wasn't allowed in just incase she was more vulnerable than she seemed. He had finally fallen asleep a couple of hours ago after trying to stay up to wait on his parents flying in from Fort Lauderdale. He wasn't even woken by the nurse going in to check up on Ellie and only came to when the nurse gently tapped him on the shoulder. He bolted upright.

"Oh, sir. You can go in now, her system appears to be quite strong and she just woke up."

Flack was on his feet in an instant and rushed to Ellie's side. There was a moment of silent staring between them before Ellie reached out and Don bent over her bed and enclosed her in his arms.

"They told me you were gone." he breathed. They stayed in their embrace for a good few minutes before Don sat down on the chair beside her bed. Ellie informed her oldest brother that she had made good progress and she would maybe be allowed home soon. Just as Don went to say she could stay with him, his phone rang. It was their mother - Carmella. She spoke to Ellie for a while before telling Don that the flight had been cancelled due to the weather in New York.

"Look, if Ellie is on the mend we don't need to hurry. We'll book another flight in a few days when the weather clears up." Carmella said before she told Don she loved him and they hung up.

"Mom and Dad are coming up to see you as soon as they can."

Ellie gave a nod.

"Donnie, what happened? I'm not even sure why I'm here." Ellie's eyes were welled with tears and her hand shook under Don's touch.

"Don't worry about that for now, we can have a talk once you're good and ready." he said, knowing all too well, that someone would be by in no time to take a witness statement.

A few hours of checks and tests and examinations later and Ellie was declared ready to go home. She had been given antibiotics to stave off a winter cold she had caught.

"Finish the course Miss Flack, its not such a serious cold but with your immune system still building itself up to full strength it could become worse and we don't want to see you back here any time soon!" Dr Banks gave her usual broad grin and bade Don and Ellie goodbye before practically skipping from the room.

"She's great, isn't she?" Ellie smiled and rose from her bed to go get dressed. A few moments later and she was dressed in jeans and a t shirt Don had brought to her. He piled layers onto her, he wasn't taking any risks with the cold.

"Look, your place is still a mess, its still got to be available for further searches and well frankly, I wouldn't want you back there alone. So you're coming to stay at mines for the time being - I'll take the sofa."

Ellie hugged her brother's arm and he placed a light kiss on her head. As they got into Flack's unmarked police car, his phone vibrated loudly on the dash. It was a text message from Mac requesting that he come to the lab as they had some developments.

"You mind if we jump in there first, before we pick up some dinner?"

"Not at all. I'd like to know...who..." Ellie couldn't continue. It had only really hit her that one of her best friends from college and her other roommate were dead.

"Frankie and Crystal are really gone..." she murmured as the car pulled away from pavement.

--

On arriving at the crime lab, Mac took Flack into the layout room and asked Ellie to wait outside. Just as she found herself a seat, Danny came round the corner. The sudden urge to run and hug Ellie came over him, but something held him back. He was so glad she was okay, but were they close enough for him to do that? He was saved the bother of deciding what to do as Ellie rose quickly and kissed him on the cheek. Her hand remained on his arm.

"Thank you, I hear you saved my life yesterday."

Danny could feel a glow coming to his face.

"_You totally saved my butt the other night, getting me home. I cannot thank you enough. I was so wrecked. If I'd have stayed at that party Don would have caught me and quite possibly killed me!" Ellie giggled and wiped the lip gloss mark from Danny's cheek._

"Uh..no problem." he finally spat out. Danny swallowed hard as he sat down next to Ellie.

"Listen Ellie, whatever happens in all of this, I'm here for you."

Ellie, oblivious to what Danny had meant by that statement, merely smiled and gave his arm a gentle squeeze. Meanwhile Mac was telling Don what they had found when the blood samples finally made it back from DNA.

"The blood we found in the stairwell was Crystal's. The blood on Ellie's body, that is under her finger nails and on her face also belonged to Crystal. We reckon the murder weapon came from this set of kitchen knives." Mac pushed a photograph of the wooden block across the table, one of the larger knives was missing. Something flashed in Flack's bright blue eyes.

"Mac, are you saying my sister is involved in this?"

"I'm sending Hawkes to go search Ellie's room and Danny is going to do a perimeter search to see if we can't find the murder weapon." Flack remained silent. He had panicked at first, even worried. Now there was anger bubbling just under the surface. As he went to get up Mac pulled him back down.

"_Stella_ is on her way to question her. She's more likely to be open with someone she doesn't know."


	6. Question Time

A few moments later, Flack found himself and Mac behind the one way mirror in the room adjacent to the interview room and stood staring at his sister. He could tell she was nervous. She always chewed her bottom lip when she was nervous.

"I know its a little bit scary being in this room but its just where all interview or interrogations have to be made so they can be recorded. Not to mention its so much more quiet in here."

Ellie mustered up a smile - she wasn't looking forward to this at all. She didn't want to have to think about her friends and she certainly wasn't sure what had gone on the previous morning.

"Okay, lets start with the night before last. Do you remember anything unusual occurring?" Stella had opened a notepad.

"Uh, Frankie didn't come home until the morning. I heard her calling out to see if me n Crys were in. Its not super unusual but she normally tells me where she's going. Its happened a few times in the last month or so. To be honest, I just think she's seeing someone. She can be quite guarded about things like that. At least til she knows its official."

"Do you know this person's name?"

"No, like I said, I wasn't even sure if that was the case. It could have just been late night studying or she was clubbing."

"Studying or clubbing? Strange mix."

Ellie smirked a little.

"I know I think it is a little weird too. We all have assessments coming up. Frankie had exams and no matter how hard she studied she could always fit a couple of nights out a week. Its just the way of the college kids I guess."

Stella gave a small smile; recalling her own college days that seemed like only yesterday. Maybe a mixture of last minute studying and getting drunk wasn't so strange after all.

"Okay, lets move on to the morning. Can you remember when you got up?"

Ellie glanced up at the mirror. She knew full well there was someone behind there. Maybe even her own brother. Or Danny. Either way she wanted nothing more to get back to Don and hold onto him. Having to recount what little she could remember about her friends' deaths was not the most pleasant experience of Ellie's life.

"Um, I didn't have classes til 11.30 so I was up just after 9 and I decided to run a bath."

Stella looked at Ellie with an expectant gaze, though what she was expecting, Ellie wasn't sure.

"While I was in the bathroom I thought I heard what sounded like Frankie and Crystal arguing, after that, there's no more."

Just as Stella went to speak again, there was a knock at the door. Sheldon was peering through the glass and beckoned Stella outside.

"Excuse me for just a moment,"

--

4 or 5 minutes later Stella came back into the room accompanied by the medium built black man Ellie had seen at the door.

"Ellie this is Sheldon Hawkes, he's part of our team here at CSI." Stella paused whilst Sheldon reached over the table and shook Ellie's hand.

"Nice to finally meet you." he said with a smile. "Okay, I've joined Stella because I'm not long back from searching your room." He took a deep breath before continuing. "We found Valium on your bedside cabinet as well as a baggy with pills that we believe to be a form of date rape in the kitchen."

"Look we know from your blood that you've had both in your system very recently." Stella pushed the relevant papers across the table to Ellie.

Ellie gave a sigh.

"The Valium...I've been taking for a couple of weeks. It helps me sleep what with the stress of my final project. A guy in my block knows some guy, thats where I got them."

The two CSIs exchanged a glance before Sheldon spoke again.

"What about the other drugs? People have been known to take a small portion of the pill or to dilute them in a lot of water for similar reasons to the Valium. Were you taking those to escape the pressures as well?"

"No, I have no idea how something like that could have even got into the apartment never mind my body."

Stella really had no choice but to end the interview. They had no other paths to go down regarding Ellie and had to go back to the option that the girls were indeed attacked and someone drugged her, leaving vital evidence behind.

Sheldon and Stella showed Ellie to a waiting area before finding Mac and Don to discuss the interview.

"Okay, Ellie's theory on a boyfriend could be true - we did find 3 semen samples in Frankie's bed. The two that matched were the most fresh so to speak. We've had no hits in CODIS.." Stella tailed off as she could see Flack jigging his foot rapidly.

"What about the drugs?" he asked quietly.

"Well, the date rape would have had an amnesic affect on her. Very rarely do young women who have been raped when they were drugged remember the actual attack."

Flack's mind was spinning. Had is own sister really been taking drugs? And what was the deal with the date rape, could she have taken it to forget what she did to her friends? Not two weeks ago Ellie had been complaining about both of her flat mates.

"Okay, so we hold her with this proof that..."

"Proof Don?!" Mac interrupted loudly. " All we've managed to prove so far is that she's been taking drugs, that doesn't mean she killed her room mates!"

Flack shot him an angry look at him and stormed from the room.

--

Just down the corridor Ellie was feeling rather sheepish around Danny. He knew about the Valium and she felt like a bit of a failure for turning to anxiety medication to deal with the stress she was under with her course.

"When I think about it now, it really wasn't that bad. I didn't need to go to the measures I did."

Danny smiled a little at Ellie's lowered gaze. He'd always had an admiration for her because she had achieved so much despite not doing so great in high school and coming from what was quite a poor family.

"Hey, we all have little moments of weakness in life. But its what makes us human and this is something to learn from."

Ellie looked up. "You don't think I would take date rape, do you?"

"If you say you didn't, then I believe you didn't. I trust you. In fact you're one of the very few females I trust at the moment." Danny had said his last sentence before he really thought about it and screwed his face up a little.

"What do you mean?" Ellie questioned. However before Danny had to cook up some answer to stop him having to unload his problems onto Ellie, Flack had arrived, grabbed her by the upper arm, pulled her to her feet and was dragging her down the corridor.

"Donnie! You're hurting me! Stop!"

Once they had gotten to a quiet area Flack stopped and let his sister go.

"You've been taking drugs. Illegal and illegally acquired prescription drugs." he spat out. "And been doing...god-knows-what-else!"

"What do you mean, I don't understand?!" Ellie replied.

"How could you even think about doing something so stupid? Its embarrassing!"

Ellie could feel a lump building in her throat.

"You don't believe me? I'm you sister Don, why wouldn't you believe me?"

"Because in my line of work, we learn to follow the evidence. And I got news for you _Fiorella_, the evidence against you is starting to look kinda good." With one sharp prod to Ellie's shoulder, Flack disappeared through a set of double doors.

A few moments passed before Ellie realised what had just happened. She heard quick foot steps behind her and glanced round to see Danny striding down the corridor.

"What happened there?"

"He seems a tad angry. I can kinda see his point, I mean there are two girls dead but...but..."

Danny reached out to Ellie and pulled her towards him.

"I got ya." he whispered as he felt her grip tighten on his jumper at his waist. As he held her close he felt her tremble slightly.

"Its just Don for you, he's stubborn as a mule." added Danny with a small chuckle, trying to make sure Ellie didn't burst into tears.

"You got a phone I could borrow?" Ellie pulled away from Danny, her brow furrowed. "I have to call one of my other friends from school, see if she can't put me up on her dorm floor for the night."

Danny reached into his back pocket before suddenly thinking it was a completely ignorant thing to do.

"You can stay with me, I got plenty of space and its just a short train ride away."

"No, I really couldn't impose on you."

"You wouldn't be imposing at all."

Ellie gave a sigh. "I don't know, I'd feel bad. But I really don't think I have anywhere to go now after that...scene with Don."

There was a long moment of silence between the friends before Danny spoke.

"Look, is it weird that I need to know you're safe? If you crash at mines for a few nights at least til your place is sorted, that way I'll be sure you're okay."

Ellie practically simpered in response. To make the urge to go AW! even worse, Danny was standing with his hands stuffed in his jean pockets with a wide-eyed, expectant look on his face.

"Oh alright, I'll stay for a couple of nights until I get somewhere else."

"Good." he replied.

As they turned and headed for the lift, Ellie was secretly thankful he had asked. Danny was the first person in a long time to make her feel so safe other than her brother.


	7. Wine and Dogs

**Thankies very much to Kate and Michael for proof reading my story! Gives me a bit of confidence in it, knowing that I'm posting it without spelling mistakes cus I am so bad at spotting my own typos! **

--

"I'm gonna check my mail, go on up and let yourself in." Danny said as he tossed his keys to Ellie. She climbed the concrete stairs to the first floor. She remembered from the time a few months ago she had been there with Don to drop off Danny's 30th birthday present. She sighed as she recalled having to miss the party as it was also her father's birthday and she and her siblings were going to celebrate with him in Orlando. As Ellie got to flat number 5, she wiped the snow off her boots on the rug and unlocked the door. As she stepped inside a small, light brown, scruffy dog ran up to her and jumped up against her lower legs.

"Oh, hello!" she said, a little surprised. "What's your name little guy?" Ellie asked as she bent to scratch his ear. "You are just adorable!"

Danny heard this as he reached the top of the stairs and smiled; wondering what he'd done now to deserve such name calling. However as this was followed by a small bark his smile vanished and his strides became more hurried.

"_The bitch dumped the dog on me_!" he said to himself.

As Danny got to the door Ellie was holding the little mongrel in her arms and was baby talking to him.

"I didn't know you had a doggie, Danny!"

"I don't...well I did, but...its complicated." Ellie gave him a puzzled look but suddenly spun on her feet.

Danny's hand had instinctively flew to his holster were his gun sat, at hearing the unexpected voice.

"Well that was fast work Daniel."

"Shit Cindy! I could've shot you!"

The tall, skinny blonde stood with her hands on her hips and a sneer on her face. There was a holdall at her feet. Danny considered that maybe shooting her wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.

"So who's this then?" Cindy questioned, looking Ellie up and down. Danny clenched his fists.

"That's none of your business and don't get all 20 questions on me. If anyone should be asking anything its me. Now what are you doing in my house?"

"Uh, I can go..." Ellie interrupted as Cindy went to speak again.

Danny turned to her. "Where exactly would you go?' he gave a smile. "Besides, she's just leaving...as soon as she hands over her keys." Danny's smile was gone instantly as he turned back to his ex. Cindy's eyes were narrowed as she slapped a set of keys into Danny's open hand.

"I was picking up my stuff and dropping off _that mutt._" Cindy pointed a sharp looking black painted nail in the small dog's direction.

"What am I supposed to do with him? You know my hours are all over the place."

Cindy shrugged and started heading to the door.

"Is this some sort of weird hit back at me for throwing you out of my life? Cus I got news for you honey, you brought it on yourself!"

Ellie stood awkwardly at the kitchen counter, dog still in hand who jumped a little when Danny raised his voice.

"Yeah, nothin' to say cus you know I'm right."

Cindy glared at Danny and Ellie in turn before marching quickly out the door and slamming it behind her causing a frame to fall off the wall. It hit the floor and the glass smashed. Ellie heard Danny curse a few times under his breath as he started picking up the debris. The only good thing was that the frame contained a picture of Cindy and it was now scratched by the shards of broken glass.

"Sorry you had to see that." Danny said.

"Its okay. She's your girlfriend right?"

"_Was_, was my girlfriend. But lets just forget about it. Pick a takeaway menu n I'll call something in for us."

--

A few hours later and the coffee table was strewn with chinese food boxes and the TV was on the background. It was some random shopping channel but neither Danny or Ellie seemed to care as the almost two bottles and of wine so far between them had relaxed them into a steady conversation. They had been discussing Don's outburst at Ellie.

"So, I heard him call you Fio, Fio...what?"

Ellie almost snorted wine out of her nose at the strained expression on Danny's face, like he was trying to work out some huge mathematical problem.

"Fiorella." she finished for him. "It was my great-grandmother's name. See my mother's side of the family are Italian and my dad's side are Irish. Mom demanded that she get to call the kids '_good strong Italian names_', but dad got in there first with Donald, after himself. Next came Carmine, then Joel and finally me. I get stuck with the crappy Italian name unlike Carmine. Fuckin' Fiorella! I mean what the hell?! I hated it so much as a kid that Carmine and Donnie started calling me Ella and soon evolved into Ellie. Now the only people who use my Sunday name are my mother and grandma Maria.'

Ellie was smirking over the top of her wine glass at Danny who was chuckling to himself. This wasn't the first time he'd seen her glance across the top of a glass like that. In fact the first time they laid eyes on each other, she was doing the exact same thing.

_Danny accepted a tall glass of champagne from a waiter as he arrived in the big hall. It was his first annual police department ball and he wasn't exactly looking forward to it. He was fairly new in the crime lab and these high class functions were not really his thing. Plus his tuxedo was rather uncomfortable. Before he could be tempted to run back out the way he'd come in, a bright pink dress caught his eye. It had short capped sleeves and it clung tightly to the very fair skinned young woman wearing it. She was standing in the middle of the floor, a large space to herself._

"_Boom." Danny muttered under his breath._

_The object of all of Danny's attention pivoted slightly on her high, black stilettos as if scanning the room for someone. There was an over-sized martini glass in her hand. As she came to face Danny, she raised the glass to her mouth and all he could see were her green eyes. They seemed to smile at him and he approached her slowly. _

"_Miss, you look a little lost..." _

_The dark haired woman gave a sigh. "I am...totally. I'm looking for my stupid brother. You wouldn't happen to know him by any chance?" _

"_Well who's your brother and I might be able to help you? Wait, hold on - let me try guess!"_

_The young woman giggled lightly. "Alright..."_

"_Okay, is he a cop or maybe a lowly CSI like myself?" _

"_He's not long been promoted to a detective."_

_As soon as the words were barely out of her mouth, Danny put two and two together. There was no mistaking that accent or her smile. _

"_This is gonna sound a bit gay, but its the eyes and that smile...they remind me of Don Flack."_

_The girl gave a laugh in disbelief. "Yeah, he's my big brother!"_

_Danny laughed too. "He's a great dude, one of my good friends from work." Just then, Don appeared and beckoned Ellie to come join him at his table. _

"_Speak of the devil..." she muttered. "Anyway, it was nice to meet you...uh..." she reached out to shake his hand._

"_Danny, Danny Messer." he replied, taking her hand and shaking it._

"_I'm Ellie." she smiled and strode off. _

"Speaking of names...What's this little pup called?" Danny's dog had climbed up onto the sofa next to Ellie was resting his head on her lap.

"Oh, thats Indiana or Indy for short." There was almost affection in Danny's voice but he gave a sigh. Without having to be asked, he explained the dogs story.

"I had dogs growing up and I always wanted one when I moved into this apartment, but with my promotion to CSI I just knew I wouldn't have the time. But Cindy told me I should fulfill my dream and she would take care of it. She begged and begged me to buy a pet, I knew it was really for her. Anyway, cut a long story short - she got to pick the dog on the condition I got to name him. I mean hell I wasn't gonna let her call him Fluffy or Truffles or something else sick. And now..." Danny smiled at the small bundle of messy fur on the sofa. "...as much as I love the little guy, I'm gonna have to give him up. Just wouldn't be fair, him stuck in here while I'm at work."

Danny looked genuinely hurt at saying this out loud, so Ellie heaved herself to her feet and landed heavily on the other sofa. Danny, being slightly inebriated, automatically rested his head on Ellie's shoulder and she put her arm around him.

"That sucks big time man.' she mumbled and she felt Danny nod. "Especially since he has such a cool name."

"Damn straight." They both shared a small laugh as Indy gave a bark and jumped up between them.

--

After at least half an hour of arguing about who was taking the sofa Ellie found herself snuggled under Danny's white bed sheets. He had given her a t-shirt and shorts to sleep in. She listened as she heard the toilet flush, then the water come on and trickle down the pipes. A few moments later Danny emerged, wiping toothpaste from the corners of his mouth. Ellie watched, noticing all he had on were his white boxers, as he dug into a drawer and pulled out a pair of jogging bottoms.

"You better not be peeking at me getting changed."

Ellie gave a giggle. "Of course not." she added sitting up and checking him out in an over exaggerated manner. Danny grinned and took his time getting into the grey sweatpants.

"Okay, I'm not in work til 12 tomorrow. Hopefully by the morning this mess will all be cleared up." He found himself tucking Ellie in and turned off the bedside light as she yawned loudly.

"Good night." she said. "And thanks. Thank you so much."

Danny turned and rolled his eyes. "Don't you dare get all grateful on me. People who care about each other do these things without question or need for thanks, right?" Danny said in an almost offhand fashion. The sudden urge to cry washed over Ellie, but she swallowed her tears; Danny had work in less than 10 hours and she couldn't keep him up any later.

"Right?" he repeated. He would lean on the door frame with his arms folded all night if that was how long it took her to agree.

Ellie sighed deeply. "Right..." she said reluctantly.

"Good." Danny stood up right and wandered from the room. "Night!" he called as he turned the living room light off.

"Sweet dreams!"

--

Across town, Don Flack was certainly not having sweet dreams. He'd been sitting in the dark in his arm chair for hours, his leg jigging off and on. His hand rubbed firmly at his forehead as he felt sleep finally taking a grip of him. What had Ellie done?

"_Family always comes first, Donnie._" Don repeated his father's words in his head. His first instinct had been to protect his only sister, but justice was in his blood. He was the 3rd generation of NYPD detectives in his family and other various relatives had been patrol cops, lawyers, prison wardens. You name it the Flacks had done it. And if Ellie really had committed as serious a crime as he suspected, she would be punished. How could she have been so stupid?! She was full of potential, creativity and talent and she had a future ahead of her. That was the reason why Don was finding it so difficult to sleep. Did Ellie really have it in her to kill? With a shiver, he got up out of his seat before flopping into bed fully clothed.


	8. Frankie Goes To Hollywood?

The winter sun was just breaking the horizon when Ellie woke with a start. It could have been her dry throat or maybe the pounding in her head from too much wine combined with not enough sleep. But what was predominant in Ellie's mind was the horrific dream she had just snapped out of. Details of the morning before the last had come flooding back.

Blood. Death. Nausea. Panic.

Her tongue kept sticking to the roof of her mouth, making her gag.

"_I need a drink_." she said inwardly as she threw the covers off of her shaking body and got up, stepping over Indy who was curled up on the rug. Ellie's bare feet padded silently across the wooden floor, her intended destination the fridge to get water. She slowed as she got to the sofa, she could hear Danny still snoring. He was lying on his back, one arm behind his head the other hanging off the side of the couch, touching the floor. Ellie smiled a little at his wide open mouth and had to stifle a giggle as she noticed he was drooling onto the cushion under his head. But as Ellie looked forward to the kitchenette she saw the cloth they had used to mop up split wine. It was stained deep red and the grisly images she had recalled flashed through her mind again. She knew she had to tell someone. Danny had already been so wonderful to her, she didn't want to even waken him - never mind burden him with what she had remembered. Don was not an option. Her only other ally was Stella. Should she just get ready now and go to the precinct? From Danny's apartment she wasn't really sure how to get there.

"_Just call her_." Ellie thought and she went in search of Danny's phone. It was on the coffee table and she scrolled through the contact list until Stella's number was highlighted. She pressed the call button and took a deep breath. It rang it only twice.

"Hey Danny"

"Uh, its not Danny. Its Ellie."

Stella was more than a little surprised. She had glanced at the caller ID and was positive it read Danny.

"Oh, I'm sorry, can I help you with something?" There was a long pause. "Ellie?"

"I...I remembered more." Stella instantly pulled her phone away from her ear. She found the record function in the menu.

"Okay, go on."

Ellie took a deep breath in through her nose. The terrifying scene played over again as she closed her eyes to stop tears escaping.

"It was like I dreamt it. But I know it wasn't just a dream, it was way too vivid. I _know _I was remembering. I saw Crys, she was just lying there, covered in blood. I must have gotten dizzy - I get squeamish around a lot of blood - because I know Frankie sat me down and handed me a glass of water. Next thing I know I'm in the bath and Danny was there. Then you. Then its all gone again until I woke up in the hospital."

Little did Ellie know, that despite trying to be as quiet as possible, Danny had woken. He had heard everything. He rose from his bed, wiping his chin as he moved, and walked quietly up behind Ellie where she stood leaning over the sink.

"Okay, I'll make sure and call if anything else comes back to me. Bye." Ellie jumped out of her skin as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to find Danny looking at her solemnly.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I just borrowed this for a few seconds, I wasn't on long." Ellie pushed the phone into Danny's hand.

"Its not that I'm worried about, you're welcome to it when you need it. Are you alright? Something like that coming back to you can't be good."

Ellie let out a sigh of relief. "Um, I'm not bad. Once I woke up and realised it was only a dream - so to speak - I calmed down. I remembered where I was...and...I felt safe again." she bit her lip and glanced up at Danny, who was now extremely close.

"Okay! 8.45." Danny said, as he checked his watch and rubbed Ellie's arm. "I won't get back to sleep so how does a big, fried breakfast sound?"

Ellie's stomach rumbled loudly right on cue. "Sounds about perfect." she said as they both laughed.

--

After Danny had left for work and she had tidied the entire apartment, Ellie decided she'd make something for dinner to thank Danny for taking her in.

"_Men._" she thought as she rolled her eyes on finding that Danny barely had a morsel of food in his cupboards. All that was in the fridge after their breakfast was beer and out of date yoghurts. Deciding to do a bit of shopping, Ellie found her jeans and grabbed a red checkered shirt from her kind host's wardrobe. "That'll do." she muttered to herself as she pulled her curls back into a ponytail. In a few moments she had her coat and other winter attire on and was out the door. Before Ellie had even made it to the main door of the apartment block she gave a cry of "Shit!". She had left the spare key Danny had given her lying on the counter. There was only one thing for it. Go to the lab and hunt Danny down for his key. She wanted to have everything ready for him when his shift finished at 8 that evening and it was already close to 4 o'clock. Sighing deeply, Ellie headed for the subway station, trying to remember which stop to get off at.

--

Moments earlier, Aiden and Adam had jumped out of their SUV and into the snow. They were just outside the crime scene and were on the trail of the murder weapon.

"Why do I gotta wear these stupid overalls?" Adam shivered as his breath rose up in small clouds.

"Cus you're the newbie to this working in the field thing. Besides, I did the last lot of dumpster diving." Aiden pulled a face, remembering the rotten food and rats she had encountered a few cases ago. "Okay, so Danny said the gravitational drops headed down this way and the janitor for the students' buildings found more blood further down the street."

"Lets hurry up and get this over with."

"No, we're taking our time. Jeez, you still got a lot to learn Adam."

"Sorry, just used to rushing things through after I've pulled them to bits."

"It's okay, just keep alert, if its been left behind, that knife has be around here."

"Because, why would someone carry it so far in broad daylight?"

Aiden smiled broadly, showing her perfectly straight, white teeth. "You're catching on." Their search didn't last long, as Aiden shone her torch under a dumpster, a flash of silver was caught in its beam. "Hello...?" she mumbled. "Adam! I need your services!"

Adam was soon on his front and reached for what Aiden had pointed out.

"Bingo." he said as he held up a very large and very bloody kitchen knife. "Black handles, just like the ones in the pictures."

"Nice! Bag and tag, young man."

--

Having gotten lost, Ellie finally arrived at the crime lab building. The lift seemed to take forever. She stepped out and up to the reception desk.

"Hey Chris, I'm looking for Danny Messer." she said to the young man who smiled from his seat in front of the computer. She had come here many a time looking for her brother, but never once specifically for Danny.

"Give me a sec n I'll just page him." he pressed a few buttons on the switchboard. "That should be him on his way." Ellie went to thank Chris, but before she could speak she heard her name being bellowed from behind her.

"I've been trying to call you for almost an hour!" Don had grabbed Ellie's arm again and was pulling her with him. "This way, I have to speak to you." He had a folder in his hand.

"What's going on?" The anger from before was gone from Don's voice as he smiled and greeted various people that they walked by. Ellie was now aware that she was following the same path she had the day before. The path to the interrogation room. Just then Danny arrived at the front desk.

"Yo, Chris! You paged me saying I had a visitor."

"Yeah, Ellie is it? Detective Flack took her down that-a-way, I guess they were going next d..." Danny was already gone.

"You've got some explaining to do." Don said as he locked the door and made Ellie sit down. "We found the weapon used to kill Crystal. Its being compared to wound tracts as we speak."

"Where?"

"Well you should know." he said, rolling the sleeves of his pin striped shirt up to the elbow. Ellie narrowed her eyes. "How exactly? I've told you already, I had nothing to do with this."

"We got your prints on the knife, oh and the small matter of_ Crystal's blood!_"

"Thats _my _knife! Mom and Dad bought them for me. You know what Mom is like - 'You can't cook without a good set of pots and knives'!" Ellie retorted.

"Less than two weeks ago you were whining about how much Crystal annoyed you! That she was a messy freshman; always borrowing things and not replacing them and having parties and playing music to all hours. And this made you angry at Frankie, who was your best friend, because she was the one who moved Crystal in without consulting you first!"

Ellie could feel tears brimming up. "It had all changed. I sat down with Crys and Frankie and we sorted out who would do what chores and..." she tailed off, having to swallow hard.

"Everything points to you so far and unfortunately neither of the two of them are around to corroborate your..." Don was cut short by a bang on the door.

"Don! Let me in, you know you shouldn't be doing this!" Mac was rattling the handle, but Don ignored him. He slammed the two autopsy photos on the desk in front of Ellie.

"Those two girls are gone and I think it was your fault."

Ellie shook her head as she was overcome by tears. Crystal's white face looked ghostly as Don continued to rant whilst pacing the room. As she glanced at the next photo, her breath caught in her throat.

"Don...Donnie...Please, listen to me!"

He stopped abruptly and leaned both of his hands on the table. "What is it Fiorella?!" He knew how much that pissed her off. "Taken a good look at Crystal and Frankie cus..."

"Don...This isn't Frankie..."


	9. Confirmation

**Sorry its been a lil while, college has been crazy...Last minute rush for paper work and for films to be included in end of year show...Anyway, I'm not sure if anyones even still reading this for me to apologise to, but I'll try update more often now since I'm officially no longer a student on friday!**

--

"Bullshit."

"No I swear! She's got mousy brown hair and she's a girl but thats the only resemblance." Through the severe bruising on her face, Ellie could see that the girl in the photograph was not her friend.

"Frances Montgomery's parents are struggling to get in from Pennsylvania to identify their daughters body, you better not be messing around."

Ellie was saved from calling her brother every name under the sun for thinking she'd be that sick as the lock behind her clicked and the door flew open.

"Gerard just got here wanting to know how his friend Detective Flack is doing, go back to your desk before he finds a reason to fire you!" Mac hissed at Don. Danny was lifting Ellie out of her chair.

"Come on, let me get you out of here." It was a move to help both siblings. Ellie was clearly upset and despite Don's accusations, the quicker they got them both out of the room, the better. Danny knew all too well how Captain Gerard would react to this situation. The CSIs had had enough conflicts with the police hierarchy for him to come down on them, and Flack, like a ton of bricks. Don was soon at his untidy desk, his arms folded over his chest and a foul look on his face. Seconds later Gerard appeared.

"Afternoon Don." he said rather loudly, completely ignoring Mac and Danny. "Oh, and Ellie!" Gerard wasn't exactly subtle in looking at Ellie cleavage. Danny's shirt being too big had left it a little more exposed than she had intended. "Its been too long, sweetheart." he grabbed her hand from her side and placed a kiss on it.

"Yeah." she replied and forced a smile before doing a button up on her black wool coat. Ellie was grateful when Danny shifted a little closer to her. She felt his chest make contact with her shoulder and could only presume he had a scowl on his face as Gerard narrowed his eyes in his direction and finally let his cold, clammy grip on her hand go.

"Lets, uh...talk over here Sir." Don said to his captain and took him to the side. "_Slimy as always_." he thought as he led him away from his sister. Mac sat Ellie down in Flack's seat as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Are you absolutely, 100 percent sure this is not Frankie?" he asked holding the photo in his hand. He was crouched in front of Ellie and gazed up at her, his grey eyes boring into her very core.

"_Human lie detector._" Danny said to himself, watching his boss work with Ellie the way he always did with suspects. But there was a more gentle tone to his voice. Danny couldn't quite tell, but he had the impression Mac believed Ellie too when she said she didn't harm her friends.

"I'm positive." Ellie suddenly became distant, but still stared, unblinking into Mac's eyes. "Who is this girl? Where's Frankie?"

"Danny, go speak to Stella and get her to contact Mr and Mrs Montgomery right now. We have to tell them that we have a case of mistaken identity and that their daughter is missing. You and Hawkes get on tracking down who this girl is."

"If looks could kill." Danny muttered as Gerard threw Ellie a dirty look. "I guess he's explained the story so far." he ran a hand over Ellie's hair. "I'll be back as soon as I get everyone else up to date."

--

As Ellie waited in the hallway of the station, she glanced at the middle aged woman across from her in a dark uniform who she presumed was the receptionist. Her afro hair was greying in an odd pattern and she smiled at Ellie when she caught her staring. Ellie mouthed an apology and looked away quickly. A pay phone came into her line of sight. She hadn't spoken to Carmine or Joel in all the confusion. Rising from her seat, Ellie dug out some quarters and made for the phone. As much as she wanted to talk to her youngest brother, she couldn't. He had finished law school at the summer and had decided to go travelling 'before growing up'. Last time they had spoken was at Christmas when he called her from somewhere in Thailand. So she dialed Carmine's number. He had been married for 4 years and was now living in California with his wife Rosa and Molly, their 3 year old daughter. She smiled wondering if anyone had picked up any of Carmine's scripts yet. He worked as a TV writer, but longed for his own ideas to be made into films.

"Flack residence!" a young voice said.

"Hey, Mollypop!" Ellie couldn't help but giggle at her nieces new way of answering the phone. "It's Ellie, is daddy there?" a screech of "DADDEEE!" was no doubt heard by half of Pasadena _and_ New York, before Carmine answered promptly.

"Hey, its me."

"Ellie, thank god! The last thing Donnie told me was that you were unconscious in hospital. I've been trying to call both of you."

"My cell is still in the apartment. Don...he's probably just a little preoccupied with the whole investigation."

"What happened sis?"

"Its complicated, look I'm short on change." Ellie lied, she just didn't want to have to explain anything to Carmine right now. "Pass on my love to Rosa and if Joel calls, let him know everything is okay." The siblings said their goodbyes and Ellie hung up. She wanted nothing more than all of her family around her. But what if they took Don's side? Keeping them in the dark for as long as possible was most likely the best idea. With a deep sigh, Ellie went back to her uncomfy, plastic seat.

--

There was quite an uproar as Stella and Danny led Ellie from the building just after 8pm.

"Detective Bonasera, I believe this young woman is a suspect in a double homicide investigation, you cannot release her!" Gerard had done a complete u-turn on his attitude towards Ellie.

"With all due respect, Captain..." There wasn't even a hint of respect in Stella's voice. "The evidence is all circumstantial, we have nothing concrete. As much as I love to close a case, I won't do so unless I have substantial evidence that will stand up in court."

Gerard was positively fuming. It had already got to the press that a detective's sister was involved in a murder, if she was let go it might look like she was getting off lightly because she was related to a member of the police force.

"If you lose this suspect, I'll have **both** your badges!" Gerard spat out, pointing a finger at the two CSIs.

"I'm not going anywhere, not until my friend is found."

Gerard's stare snapped to Ellie. "I'm sure when we find her, we'll have what we need to put you away."

"Come on Ellie, lets go." Danny rested his hand on the small of Ellie's back and guided her out of the door.

"I'm sorry Danny." Ellie said after a few minutes of companionable silence as they walked down the wet pavement. "I meant to get in food to make us dinner, but I let the door close before I picked up the key and I wanted to get it your key from so you it'd be ready, but he got to me first and..."

"Hey, hey...easy." Danny had stopped Ellie before she got too carried away. "That was a really sweet idea but what's say I take you out for something? We'll head into town n hang out. Take your mind off all this shit with Don and Gerard."

"Alright, but at least let me pay my own way."

"Nuh-uh! Its either me buying or we go home and starve!" Danny replied and threw his arm around Ellie's shoulders making her have to walk faster to keep up with Danny's long strides.

--

Times Square was one of Ellie's favourite places in the whole world. Especially at night. As she watched the bright lights dance across the lenses of Danny's glasses, she recalled Frankie noticing the same thing on her own glasses one drunken night. Without warning a loud sob racked her entire body. Danny's pleasant smile vanished in an instant as Ellie took a few deep breaths to steady herself. She couldn't cry right here in the middle of the street. Where was Frankie? Did she have something to do with this or did she know what had happened? Was she even still alive? The evidence was building up against Ellie and even though she could hardly remember a thing, she was adamant that she did not hurt anyone.

"Please, you gotta clear this up. I can't go on with Donnie hating me." A tear trickled down Ellie's left cheek and slid onto her upper lip.

"I don't think he hates you, I mean...its you." Danny reached out and put his arms loosely round Ellie's shoulders. He kept her at a small distance to maintain his eye contact. "You're a good person and I'm more than sure you didn't do anything wrong the other morning."

Ellie was looking at her feet as she dried off her face.

"I'm glad there's still someone around here who believes in me." she said, playing with a button on Danny's coat. He lifted her chin and she gazed up at him with her eyes shining. Before Danny could convince himself that he shouldn't act on his impulses, his nose was touching Ellie's and he gently pressed his lips against hers. Ellie's breath rushed from her and her skin began to tingle as she felt Danny's hand skim her jaw line and come to rest in the hair at the top of her neck. His kiss lingered for a few moments before he moved away and left Ellie still lost in his extremely pleasant scent. She eased open her eyes.

"What was that for?"

Danny brushed Ellie's fringe out of her eyes.

"I told you already I care about you. Weren't we pretty good friends before this all happened? And...well...you _are_ as cute as a button.' he grinned broadly as he prodded Ellie on the nose. She giggled lightly and wrapped her arms around his middle as she snuggled into his chest. As he rested his chin on Ellie's head, a renewed sense of determination filled Danny, he was going to go back to the crime scene one last time before it was released to clean-up and find something that would clear Ellie's name.


	10. Glimmer of Hope

**I'm always so para about typos, so if you spot any...let me know! If you think the story is going well or even badly, give me a review, I'd love to know how I'm doing! Thanks :D**

By the time they made it back to Danny's apartment, Ellie was drained. Emotionally and physically. It was now after 1am but Danny had planned to get Ellie home and head for work. He knew Stella and Hawkes were on the night shift and Mac would no doubt still be hanging around. Thinking about helping Ellie, cast his mind back to just hours before when he took his chance and kissed her. As he ignited the gas under the kettle for Ellie's tea he gave a sigh. Was it really fair on both of them for him to have done that? After all it had barely been two days since he caught Cindy with another man. But he had never been more sure of anything in his life when he made the decision in his mind to get rid of her. And it wasn't as if Ellie was someone he had just met. Many a time he had caught himself thinking about her. Imagining what her skin felt like and wondering what brand her sweet perfume was. Even sometimes trying to think up stupid excuses to see her, especially recently during the bad patch he and Cindy just managed to endure. He'd end up feeling guilty for having such thoughts even though, in truth, his feelings for Cindy were fading. She was certainly a very attractive woman, but the novelty of having a head turning girlfriend had worn off.

"I reckon she was way outta my league and that's why she cheated." Danny blurted out.

Ellie perched herself on the pool table. "Well _I_ reckon that if you cheat once, you're likely to do it again, no matter who you're with. You can't blame yourself for her decisions. And anyway...you were clearly out of _her_ league." she winked, making Danny's face finally split into a smile.

"I'm gonna kiss you again, okay?" he said, still grinning. Ellie's cheeks flushed. It had been a while since anyone had asked her anything like that. Mind you there hadn't been anyone she _wanted_ to ask her that. Except maybe Danny. She had always thought he was cute. And as she got to know him, his intelligence had surprised her. Not that he seemed stupid but he didn't strike her as being a chemistry geek. That along with his street smarts and cheeky demeanor, he really was born to be a CSI. Danny didn't wait for an answer before he pushed himself in between Ellie's legs, making her slide back onto the green felt of the pool table. She giggled lightly as his hands slid round her waist and he placed several quick kisses on her lips. Danny leaned back slightly and merely looked into Ellie's eyes. She bit her lip. She might be falling for her brother's friend and it was weird. Good weird though. As if it had been waiting for the opportune moment to interrupt, the kettle started whistling, letting them know that the water was boiled. Danny rolled his eyes and went to lift it off of the heat.

"Go on into bed and I'll bring it in." Danny said as he dropped a tea bag into a big mug. "You want a cookie?"

Ellie nodded enthusiastically and made her way into the bedroom.

--

It didn't take Ellie long to devour the tea and the cookie and she was soon yawning. Danny lay on top of the bed covers, stroking her hair. As soon as he was sure she was asleep, Danny careful slid her glasses off and put them on the bedside cabinet. After looking at Ellie one last time Danny shifted carefully off the bed. He grabbed what he needed and scribbled down a note telling Ellie where he had gone and to call if she needed anything. He stuck the note on the fridge, hoping she'd notice it there. He pulled on his black, leather boots and stepped out into the cold hallway before closing the door quietly behind him.

--

Stella gave a loud yawn and stretched. Hawkes smirked at her as she rubbed her eyes.

"I think we're in for a long night.' she muttered. In all her years in the police force Stella had come across some weird and puzzling scenarios, but recently things seemed to have been easy for her and the team. Evidence practically left out on a silver platter for them, suspects crumbling quickly under Mac or Don's questioning. But this latest case had her well and truly stumped.

"Lets run through our options together." Hawkes said, seeing the frustration on his colleague's face.

"Mind if I join you?" Mac had appeared in the layout room. He held 3 paper cups of coffee between his hands.

"Perfect timing as always Mac." Hawkes gratefully accepted the cup his boss held out to him. Mac smiled in reply and walked around the large table that was hidden under a mass of photographs and paperwork. He took a sip from his coffee before finding a tiny space to put it down. "So, where are we with this?"

"Okay..." Sheldon took a deep breath. "If we start at the beginning, we have Ellie unconscious in the tub. Explanation for that: the drugs she had in her system coupled with the temperature of the room. Crystal and the unknown female, well we know how they were killed, we just don't have the why. Which is what is making it so difficult to find a conclusion. We have no proper motive as to why Ellie would want to kill them. From what Flack and Danny tell us, she's pretty laid back and placid."

"Any progress on finding out anymore about Frankie?"

"Aiden and I spoke to her parents, they haven't had contact with her in over a week. They can't think where she'd be or who would want to hurt her." Stella said and let out a long sigh.

Mac surveyed the table once more, he eyes intense as if begging the photographs to tell him something new.

"There's somebody missing from this picture."

"I don't know, Mac. I kinda hate to admit it but I think Ellie still looks good for this, the evidence is there, its just a tad...indirect."

"Even if I truly believed that Ellie was responsible for these crimes, the evidence we have is not enough. The DA wouldn't give us the time of day without something solid." All three criminalists looked towards the glass door as they heard a gentle tapping. Danny entered the room.

"Evening." he said, flashing a grin. "Mac, has Ellie's place been cleared yet?"

"The apartment has been cleared of blood and such, but the full clean up is yet to happen."

"Good, cus I need to get back down there. I have to make sure we didn't miss anything.' Stella looked up from the computer she was on, one eyebrow raised. "Nothing against you Stell; I know how thorough you are. It's just for my own piece of mind."

There were a few moments of silence. Danny screwed up his face, convinced Mac would tell him no.

"Alright, get the key from next door. Make it a swift search, it's already 3.30 and the clean up crew are expecting to be able to finish the job at 7am."

"Don't worry, boss. I'll be outta there."

--

Danny borrowed an SUV and after getting stuck in traffic for a good half an hour he finally made it to the student block. Despite it being Friday morning, a lot of lights were still on and televisions and stereos were blaring. He pushed open the main door, thinking that if there had been a security entrance that was standard in most new builds or conversions, that maybe this whole mess might not have occurred. He was soon upstairs, cutting the police tape, that had been used to seal the flat, with the scalpel from his kit. As he pushed open the blue door, the pungent odour of disinfectant hit his nostrils. He shone his torch around the cold living room. Crystal's blood had been lifted, but there was still a dark stain on the carpet with a distinct torso-shaped void in it. Sighing, Danny pressed on with his search, by turning on the lights as he went on his way to the bathroom. From there, he progressed to the smallest bedroom where Frankie slept. It was tidy to the point of obsession. Everything had its place, shown by the bright stickers that proclaimed things like 'PENCILS' or 'SOCKS' on various boxes and drawers. Crystal's room on the other hand was a complete tip apart from her dressing table, where all her make-up and hair products were laid out in neat rows. He found nothing of interest in either room.

Across the other side of the living area, was Ellie's room. He scoured it, but again, there was nothing that stood out. Getting frustrated, Danny closed her room door behind him and flopped down on the couch. He was about to give up and take his gloves off when he realised he hadn't looked under the cushions on the couch or the seats. He lifted them all carefully. He found nothing but a few quarters, nickels and dimes, the odd bead or jewel and a hell of a lot of lint and crumbs. As he passed his torch light around the room again the beam hit something that shone under the sofa. He got down on all fours and shone the torch under again. There was a smashed glass up against the skirting board, with debris around it. Danny pulled the sofa out from against the wall and discovered that the glass still had what looked like water in the biggest section of it. After snapping a photo, he lifted it carefully, swabbed the liquid and placed the glass in a plastic bag. There was a small smudge of blood on one of the shattered parts and Danny bagged that too. Danny's spirits had lifted hugely as he hurried down the stairs and headed back to the lab.


	11. Captain's Orders

**Thank so much to all who have reviewed so far, I really appreciate it. It keeps me going and I get all YAYS! when I find out that even a few people are enjoying my writing!**

--

It was just after 7 o'clock as Danny emerged from the elevator in the CSI building. He could hardly contain himself, he had found something. Whether it broke the case or not, he didn't care, he had still managed to find something. It gave him a tiny glimmer of hope to prove Ellie's innocence. But then again, she did mention the fact that Frankie had given her water. It might just be Crystal's blood from Ellie's hand. Still, he rushed on to the DNA lab. On finding Adam, he left the blood swab and continued on to find someone else to help him process the rest of the glass. He grabbed Aiden from the locker room and they set about going over the fragments, looking for prints.

"Where did you get this?" Aiden asked as she started to fume smaller scraps of glass.

"Under the couch, must have been the one place Stella and Hawkes missed."

--

The prints Aiden and Danny found matched Ellie's and when they got a hold of a trial university database, they matched some to Frankie as well.

"Looks like they started taking prints from some faculties to use for things like the library and cafeteria as well as for security purposes." Aiden explained as Danny put two partials through AFIS.

"I'm gonna go see if Mac has come back yet, can you keep an eye on this?"

Aiden smiled, "No problem."

As Danny left the lab he could hear raised voices coming from down the corridor.

"Where is the asshole?!" Captain Gerard yelled. "I'll have his balls for breakfast!" He spotted Danny walking in his direction and advanced on him. "You!" he said through gritted teeth.

"Me?" Danny said, staying nonchalant under Gerard who was practically foaming at the mouth.

"Gerard, lets take this into my office." Mac was behind him, holding a brown envelope. The Captain, turned on his heels and stepped inside Mac's glass walled room.

"What's going on?" Danny asked as he closed the door.

"This..!" Gerard snatched the envelope from Mac. "...is what's going on!" He threw several large prints of photographs of Danny and Ellie down onto the desk. They were in Times Square, talking, touching, kissing and walking home arm in arm and sitting in the cafe Danny had taken her to.

"What the hell do you think you were playing at, you little punk?!" Mac was looking solemn from behind his desk. "She is the prime suspect in an ongoing murder investigation. How am I supposed to explain that one of the NYPDs CSIs is having an affair with someone who we think killed two girls in their apartment? It's disgusting!"

"You had me followed?"

"That's not the issue at hand, Messer! You are off this case and suspended for a week, unpaid might I add. If you come anywhere near this lab, I promise you, you will be fired immediately."

Danny blinked a few times, seemingly unfazed. "You know what Captain, I think you're just jealous. I saw the way you were eyeballin' her. Now_ that _was disgusting."

This was too much for Gerard, who lunged at Danny. His precious image was on the line, he wasn't going to let some smart-assed kid soil it. Mac was on his feet in a flash, his military training coming in extremely handy as he put Gerard's arm into a lock.

"Danny, leave now!" Danny hadn't so much as flinched. Mac had to shout at him again before he turned on his feet and left without a word.

Captain Gerard was apparently well prepared and had security on hand to escort Danny from the building.

"Alright, alright! I'm going!" Danny said, holding his hand up to the uniformed guards. He pulled his phone from his pocket as he made his way to the locker room.

"Aiden, its Danny." he had called the lab he had left Aiden in and she picked it up momentarily. "No doubt you'll find out why I gotta go in the next ten minutes, but whatever happens, promise me you will get that glass processed A.S.A.P."

"Yeah, you know I will, but why you gotta go?"

"I...did something stupid. But I'm glad I did it. I'd feel worse if I had wasted the opportunity."

Aiden was even more confused. If it was something scandalous, Danny was right, it would be round the building in no time. She didn't press him for anymore.

"My beeper has just gone, Adam must have something on the water." There was a long pause. "Uh oh." Aiden continued. "Mac's heading this way, he looks angry. I better go, I'll call when I know anything."

Just as Danny got to the elevator, Flack stepped out. He stopped dead in his tracks and stared at Danny. Danny instantly knew it was Flack who had tipped Gerard off to him and Ellie.

"What the hell were you doing with my sister?" Flack asked through gritted teeth.

"Looking out for her, unlike you. When you thought she was dead, she was your baby sister, now she's just a suspect; some number in the system."

"I saw those pictures, that is not what I would call looking out for her!"

Danny couldn't tell why exactly Flack was angry, he sounded like a big brother making sure his little sis didn't get hurt by every potential suitor who came her way.

"Don..." Danny sighed deeply. "I care about her, I mean really care about her. Surely you get I wouldn't do anything to hurt her? If for no other reason than I know you could kick my ass..."

The corner of Flack's lips twitched a little.

"_No!_" he told himself. "_Don't you dare smile!_" He wasn't mad at Danny because it was his sister. He was mad because he could have jeopardized the case and several people's careers. "I know you, you're not _that_ stupid." Was he joking with Danny? His reaction was involuntary. He couldn't not joke with him. "But you've been stupid enough to take her in and whatever else when you shouldn't have. You have to deal with the consequences."

"What else was I supposed to do?! Leave her out in the snow?!" Danny shouted at Flack's retreating back. One of the security guards indicated the elevator with his eyes. Danny finally gave in and slammed his hand on the button marked 'G'.

--

Danny trudged through the freshly fallen snow on his block. The sun wasn't even up when he slunk quietly into his apartment, trying his best not to wake Ellie. It was 8.23 and Danny suddenly felt tired as he realised he had been up for almost 24 hours. The sofa didn't look so welcoming so Danny peeked around the bedroom door. Ellie was curled up away to one side. He kicked his boots and jeans off, leaving them in a heap on the floor. He sat lightly on the edge of the bed, and carefully climbed under the covers. He tensed a little as Ellie turned over to face him. She didn't seem to be awake, and Danny let out a relieved sigh. Danny started, just as he began to drop off to sleep as he felt a warm hand on his cold skin. Ellie had wrapped her arm around his and rested her head on his shoulder.

"C'mere." he mumbled and pulled her closer.

"Ooh, you're cold."

"Yeah, well you can warm me up, you're like a little hot water bottle."

Ellie laughed through her nose as Danny enveloped her in his strong arms. "You haven't slept yet, have you?"

"No, I've been at work." Danny paused. He didn't have the heart to tell Ellie he had been thrown off the case. He felt like he'd let her down. "I'm exhausted."

"Well, shut up and get some rest then." Ellie prodded Danny in the side. He placed a kiss on her head and his eyelids soon became droopy. As he let sleep finally wash over him, he hoped against hope that what he had found would clear the beautiful young woman in his arms.


	12. Lost & Found

**Not many chapters to go now, hope there's still a few of you hanging on in there! Let me know if you're still liking it!**

--

A high wind had picked up by mid morning and it was battering snow and hail against Mac Taylor's window. He drummed his fingers on his desk in time with the weather outside. His brow was furrowed and he let out an umpteenth sigh as there was a quiet tap on the door. Stella smiled at him. It didn't quite reach her eyes. Mac knew it was one of her 'chin up' ones she often gave him when he faced tough situations at work or even in his personal life. Neither of them really admitted it, but they were each others rocks. Stella was always there with a hug when Mac needed one and Mac had an amazing ability to make Stella's spirits raise with a few words of wisdom.

"What was Danny thinking?"

Stella sat down on the edge of Mac's desk, right in front of him. "I don't reckon he _was_ thinking. I presume him and Cindy are over, I don't think he'd go around cheating on his girlfriend, especially with murder suspects."

"That's not the point, he could have cost himself his job."

This time Stella smiled properly. "What would you do in his shoes, Mac?" she leaned in a little closer. "He's clearly fallen for her, badly. Not the best timing, but if there was a special woman in your life in trouble, I doubt the noble Mac Taylor would just abandon her."

Mac's hard expression eased a little. He didn't say a word but Stella knew he agreed on some level at least.

"Anyway, back to what I came here for. The blood on the glass Danny found was male. Just to be thorough, I compared it with the semen samples from Frankie's bed."

"You get a match?"

"Naturally, why else would I bother to come all this way?" Stella smirked.

"And here I was thinking it was just to see me." Mac returned her smile.

"I didn't get any hits in CODIS the first time, but I've got Aiden running it through again as we speak."

"Good, anything from Adam?"

"Not yet, but he's working on it."

Mac rose from his seat and turned to the window. He watched the snow drops slick down the glass. "So our missing piece of the puzzle is this unknown male." he folded his arms over his chest. "We find him, and this picture is going to become a lot clearer."

--

Adam was like a little kid on Christmas when the results from the water in the glass appeared on his computer screen. He had read up on the case and was up to date on all the chemical analysis that had been going on. What he had found in the water was very important.

"Come on move it!" he said to the printer as it made a hard copy of the results.

"Aiden, what you up to?" Adam asked as he stuck his head around the office door. She gave a long, low sigh.

"I'm trawling through all the near matches of the blood and semen. Its taking way longer than I thought it would."

"Well, I got something, so I'm off to find the boss!"

Before Aiden could even ask Adam what he had, he was off at top speed down the corridor. Without so much as a knock, he threw open Mac's office door. Stella got up from her perch as they stopped talking abruptly.

"Oh sorry, did I interrupt?" Adam asked.

"No, its fine." Mac said. "Must be something important for you to burst in here like that."

"Okay, so Ellie said that she remembered Frankie giving her a glass of water, which we backed up by finding both their prints on various bits of the glass. Now what I found in the water, may back up Ellie's denial of taking anything other than the diazepam."

Stella interjected. "You found date rape in the water?"

"Why do you let me tell my my little lead up story then ruin it? All the time!"

Stella giggled lightly. "Sorry." she said.

"Yes, I most definitely found the same chemical compound in the water as in Ellie's blood. Very high concentrations."

"Enough to knock her out quickly?" Mac questioned.

"Most likely."

"This is just getting more and more confusing." Stella mused as she took the print out from Adam and read over it. "Does this mean Frankie spiked her own friend?"

"Either that or Ellie has come up with the most elaborate plan ever." Adam said.

"That would insist it was premeditated for a long time before hand, with the glass and all the other evidence." Mac answered.

"Yeah the fresh male blood is what makes me think its not just a story she's telling us. You were right all along Mac, Ellie's innocent."

Mac glanced at his young colleague. "We can't jump to conclusions Adam, but my instincts are telling me the owner of this blood has a big part to play in this crime. And that Ellie is indeed a victim."

--

After Mac had presented the detective now working on the case with them with the new evidence, he went to find Flack.

"Technically I shouldn't be updating you on this, but I feel its my duty to share the new information we have." Mac said as he pulled a chair up to Don Flack's desk. "Its looking more and more likely that your sister is a victim in this. We found male DNA on the glass Danny got from the apartment, Aiden is still searching through near matches in the system. We have officers on the look out for Frankie, dead or alive. If she's still out there, she may have some answers."

Guilt was creeping through Flack's body. Why had he been so quick to decide that his sister was a murderer? She wasn't quite off the hook yet, but Flack felt sick that he'd pushed her away instead of protecting her no matter what the outcome. Mac had picked up on this and placed his hand on Flack's shoulder.

"You were just doing your job Don. Don't worry about it, nows the time to be there for Ellie and get her through the rest of this case."

"I wouldn't be surprised if she never wanted to speak to me again."

"It may take her a little while, but she'll forgive you."

Flack sighed. "My parents are arriving within the hour at JFK, I just hope I haven't lost her forever."

--

Danny woke mid-afternoon to the smell of fresh coffee wafting into his room. Ellie wasn't lying with him anymore and he could hear her singing along to The Who on the radio. As he got up he saw her sitting at the breakfast bar.

"Oh you're up! I made some coffee for you about 5 minutes ago. I cant stand the stuff so you better drink up."

"Thanks." Danny said as he poured himself a mug of the hot black coffee. He surveyed the breakfast bar. It was covered with paper and Ellie was scribbling on a fresh sheet.

"Are these designs?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, I need to come up with 'initial' ideas for my portfolio, but I already had my final designs in my head. This is just some crappy, last minute sketches to fill up my development section."

"For 'crappy, last minute sketches', these are pretty damn good."

"Nah, they're just doodles."

"I'm serious, I'm impressed." Danny smiled broadly, making Ellie blush.

"Thank you." she murmured. Danny folded an arm across his chest and stood watching Ellie draw. In seconds she had filled another sheet; this time with male forms. One stood, arms folded in a t-shirt and shorts. Ellie gazed up at Danny for a few seconds and added messy hair to her figure.

"There, you've been added to my portfolio."

"Thats fine, as long as you credit me as your muse when you're rich and famous."

Ellie laughed and leaned over the table. She placed a kiss on Danny's cheek. "I promise." she said. Danny put his coffee down and dragged Ellie across the table to him. Papers scattered everywhere, some landing on the floor. Indy was yapping as the sheets rained down on him. Danny ran his hand under Ellie's shirt and began to tickle her waist.

"Stop it!" she squealed as she tried to get away from him, but he only wrapped his other arm around her. "I have to hand...these...papers...in!" Ellie suddenly slipped forward and gave a gasp as she felt her balance on the table disappear. She fell into Danny and opened her eyes to find herself pressed against him.

"Um..." she torn her gaze away from his, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. Danny still had his hand on her skin and didn't appear to want to move it. He leaned into towards her, Ellie could feel his breath tingling on her neck. Just as he was about to place a kiss right below her ear, she stopped him.

"Danny, what is this? What are we doing?"

"I think thats one for your parents to explain to you." he chuckled and continued to kiss Ellie's neck. She pushed him back again.

"No, not _that!_" she rolled her eyes as he grinned at her. "I mean...stop me if this is getting too heavy...what is this..._thing_...we have going on?" Ellie wasn't one to rush into things. She had been hurt before and if Danny was planning on having his way with her, then disappearing, then she would leave first. She would leave before she had time to get properly attached.

"Uh, I'm not sure." he replied.

Ellie bit her lip. "Here it comes." she thought. "The old 'Lets be good friends' line."

Danny could see what he thought was disappointment in Ellie's eyes. Could she possibly want something with him? He had already admitted to himself that he had always had a special place in his heart for his friend's younger sister, but did she feel the same way? "Here goes nothing." he said to himself and took a deep breath. "I don't know if there is a 'thing' as you put it, but what I do know is that I care about you. I meant what I said in Times Square and these past few days have really shown me that you mean a lot to me." Danny swallowed hard as he tried to gage Ellie's reaction. "I freaked out when I thought you were dead. I felt like I'd missed out on really knowing you."

"Really?" Ellie asked in a tiny voice. Her eyes were welled with tears.

"Really." Danny replied, resting his forehead against hers. Just as Ellie pulled Danny into a kiss, his phone vibrated loudly on the coffee table.

"Dammit! Hold that thought!" he said as he strode across the room and picked it up. "Yeah." he said, noticing that the call was coming from the CSI building.

"Detective Messer? This is Claudia from reception, Detective Taylor requests that you and Miss Flack join him at the precinct, patrol have just brought a Frankie Montgomery into custody."


	13. Confession

**I love interrogations and interview scenes in CSI, I hope I got this right! Thank you so much for the reviews for the latest chapter, they really spur me on to write more...**

--

A disheveled young woman sat directly across from Mac Taylor in the dingy interview room. She stared at the table with wide eyes that were glazed with tears.

"Frankie."

She jumped at hearing her own name. She looked up to meet Mac's gaze. Her hair was the same shade as the Jane Doe, but really other than that there were no similarities.

"I need you to tell me what happened the morning you disappeared." Mac said once he was sure he had Frankie's attention. "Two girls are dead, your living room was trashed and your best friend Ellie is being blamed for it. If you know anything, which I'm pretty sure you do, you have to tell me." Frankie remained silent as she stared at Mac. There was fear in her eyes and Mac couldn't tell if it was because she had committed this crime or because she was too terrified about the whole ordeal to talk. Mac sat back in his seat. He glanced up at the two way mirror. He knew Flack was behind it as he had to drag him away from trying to interview Frankie. Flack's passion to put injustices right was still burning, but it seemed he was now beginning to realise that his sister was the one he needed to fight for.

"Who does the male blood belong to? Who have you been sleeping with?"

"I don't think thats any of your concern." Frankie retorted.

"It is if he's involved in this somehow or if he's a potential witness."

Frankie slouched in her chair and folded her arms. Her fear was gone and had been replaced by indignation. She seemed offended by the question Mac had asked and had completely forgotten why she was scared.

"_Great_." Mac thought. "_She's angry and will clam up even more now_." He rose from his seat. "If you're protecting someone I will find out. Ellie will be here soon, lets see if she can't convince you to talk." And with that he left the room, slamming the door behind him.

--

Aiden had just broken into a run as she collided with Stella in the corridor.

"Woah, slow down there!" Stella grabbed onto Aiden's arms to stop them both from falling.

"Sorry Stell, but I think I got something."

The smile faded from Stella's face as she looked at the files in Aiden's hand.

"Lets go to Mac." The two women were in the break room in no time and Mac glanced over his cup of coffee at them.

"Mac, I think I got something." Aiden said as she sat down on the sofa next to him. "I found a few similar matches to the male DNA and managed to narrow it down to 3. Those 3 happen to be brothers. The brothers Vitale."

"Vitto, Angelo and Pasquale?" Mac asked as he got to his feet.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Aiden asked as she let her boss take the brown files.

"I worked on a big bust that involved their family about 7 years ago. Angelo was the only one of the 3 bosses who ended up in jail, though the other two have done time before. He was released in November by the looks of his record." Mac handed them to Stella's open hands.

Stella gasped. "Quite extensive charges they've been brought up on, since they were pretty young it would seem." She paused a few moments to scan over the last file. "So our unknown male is a son of one of these men?"

"Yes, I think its most likely Angelo's, his DNA shares the most alleles." Aiden added.

"Okay, if you two get on tracking down any Vitale children that there are, I'll go back to Frankie and see if this little bit of information will refresh her memory."

--

"So Frankie...was the Vitale kid an accomplice? Or did he attack you too? You seem smart, not the kind of girl who would be stupid enough to have unprotected sex. Did he force you in your own bed?"

Frankie gave a twitch. It seemed Mac had hit a sore spot.

"He did, didn't he?" Mac leaned in closer to the trembling girl in front of him. "You can talk to me, or I can get Detective Bonasera in here if you'd prefer to speak to a woman."

"It wasn't like that." Frankie mumbled. She was itching at the bend in her left arm and her nails were bitten down to the quick. Flack, who was safely behind plate glass noticed this too and moved closer to get a better look. Adam had joined him, having only seen one interrogation before.

"She looks like an addict to me." he said, reading the detective's mind.

"Took the words right outta my mouth." Flack added quietly.

"What _was_ it like?" Mac pressed Frankie for more details. She seemed on edge. Did she need a fix? Now was a good time to get the information he needed to come closer to solving this case. Frankie broke down and held her face in her hands.

"He fucked it all up." she said thickly. "He was so good to me when we first met, but he persuaded me to try some heroine." Frankie sat back up, a disgusted look joined the tears on her face. "I can't believe I fell for him."

"Who?"

"Johnny, Johnny Vitale. He spoiled me with the money he made taking over his father's drug smuggling."

"Now would be an appropriate time for a 'Boom' from Danny." Adam muttered.

"Yeah." Flack replied, almost in a whisper.

"So was this a drug related crime?" Mac asked as Frankie continued to sob.

"Not exactly. I had been out all night with Johnny and Karen."

Mac interrupted. "Who's Karen?"

"She's the other girl...who...who got hurt. She was an old friend of Johnny's from school and through his family. She was starting to clean up."

"So, how did she _get hurt_?"

Frankie shifted in her chair. She ran a hand over her face, trying to dry it off.

"I came back to the apartment to get the coke I'd been holding for Johnny. He'd been ripping off his dad and wanted to sell on what he had. Crystal must have heard Karen and Johnny making noise and came out of her room. I don't know how it got so far, but Crys and Karen were going at it when I came back from my room. Next thing I know, Karen's head smashes off the coffee table and Johnny has a blade in his..." Frankie trailed off, overcome once more by tears. "He just keep stabbing and stabbing, I couldn't stop him..."

"_You get the stuff together, I'll go get rid of this." Johnny was brandishing the bloodstained knife in Frankie's face. He had blood all over his sleeve and his own hand was cut. Frankie was shaking violently. "NOW!" Johnny shouted, making her jump to her feet. He left, slamming the door behind him. _

"_Who is slamming the door at this time in the morning?!" Frankie turned to find Ellie with a towel wrapped around her. "Frankie, what the fuck? What...what happened?!" Ellie had spotted Crystal on the floor. She ran to her side, but it was too late. Ellie suddenly realised her hands were covered in blood, and her knees buckled under her. She looked ill and Frankie ran to the sink to get her a glass of water. She glanced at the box of drugs, sitting on the dresser. There were baggies of assorted powders and pills. In a split second, she snatched up a bag with what she recognised as date rape pills and spilled several into the glass. She watched as they fizzed and dissolved into the water. _

"_Here, drink this." Much to Frankie's surprise, Ellie gulped the water down. The result was almost immediate and Ellie quickly became drowsy. If she could just get her out of the room before Johnny came back, she might be able to stop her getting involved. _

_Just as Frankie got Ellie to the bathroom, Johnny burst in through the apartment door. _

"_I saw some kid knocking the door, we don't have time to dump the body. We have to get out of here, right..." he stopped dead as he spotted Frankie dropping Ellie into the bath. _

"_Johnny, its okay...I knocked her out. She doesn't know a thing." she pointed to the glass on the coffee table. _

"_BULLSHIT!" he roared, throwing the glass across the room. It shattered under the couch. _

"_I put pills in there. She won't remember a thing."_

_Johnny strode into the bathroom. "Lets just help make sure she doesn't talk." He opened the bathroom window as wide as it would go. Wind brought snowflakes in, that landed in the warm bath water and melted instantly._

"_Johnny, you can't!"_

"_I can and I will. Now get the drugs' we're leaving."_

Mac sighed and got to his feet. He signaled to the uniformed officer outside the door to come in. She handcuffed Frankie and took her to the door. Flack had sent a text to Stella to tell her to track down Johnny Vitale. He stayed put until Frankie had been led away, afraid of what he might say or do if he got near her.

--

Several blocks away, Danny and Ellie were huddled up in a taxi. The sun was beginning to set and the cloudless sky meant they were in for a frosty night and they were certainly starting to feel the cold closing in.

"I wish this traffic would move and we'd be in the warmth already." Ellie muttered, snuggling in close to Danny as their breath hung in the air.

"We would manage to hail the one cab with a broken heater." Danny replied as his phone alerted him to a text. He pulled it from his coat pocket and read aloud.

"We know who attacked Ellie's friends. Frankie told us everything. My parents are here - they'll be waiting outside."

"It take it that was from Donnie?"

"Yeah, seems he's stopped blaming you anyway."

Ellie let out a huge sigh. It was like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders and Danny felt her physically sit up straight. Her tired eyes brightened and the green in them seemed more vibrant - like the Ellie had he always known.

"I can't wait to see my Mom and Dad." she said quietly. "It feels like I haven't seen them in ages when it was Thanksgiving that I saw them last."

"What, not at Christmas?" Danny asked.

"No, I celebrated that with Donnie. Just me and him."

"Well it won't be long now til you can see all of them." Danny said, placing a gentle kiss on Ellie's cheek.

--

The traffic soon shifted and Ellie climbed out of the cab as it pulled up outside the precinct building. Danny had refused to let her even so much as pay half and stood at the drivers window, waiting on his change. She glanced up the grey stairs and saw her parents waving from a window on the ground floor. Ellie couldn't help but grin and a warmth filled her entire body, despite the cold. Just as she raised her own hand to wave, something heavy hit the side of her head and sent her crashing to the ground. She blinked hard a few times and tried to get up, but failed. She could hear a struggle going on around her. As Ellie managed to compose herself and lift her head from the freezing ground, a fist made contact with her jaw and she smacked her head on the pavement.

"Ellie!" she heard Danny yell. She had just enough time to see her own blood pouring onto the crisp white snow, before everything went black.


	14. Determination

**Sorry the lil hold up with this chapter...I know, I know...Left you all hanging, but I had a bit of writers block recently and I like to keep a couple of chapters ahead of myself for when that happens...But I was naughty and just kept posting...Anyway...hope I've not annoyed y'all too much...Enjoy! Oh and thanks for the lovely reviews! **

There was suddenly a lot of activity going on around the station. A grey, battered looking van had just sped off with 3 unknown men and Ellie and Danny inside. Flack was on the phone, trying to communicate with any police helicopters that were in the area and several other officers were on radios and looking up any vans of that description relating to the Vitale family and getting in touch with the SWAT team in case they would be needed.

"One thing I'm sure of is it was rather audacious of whoever did this." Mac muttered, his face lit blue by his computer screen.

"Are the Vitales known for being brash?" Stella asked. They were both scanning through addresses of known associates of that particular mafia family.

"Not usually. Thats why I'm a little puzzled." he replied. A few moments later and they were interrupted by Sheldon Hawkes.

"Hey, the AV lab have something. They got one of the guys on the camera out front." The three CSIs abandoned the small office and went to see just who had one of their own.

When they arrived in the AV lab, one of the big screens displayed a tall, dark haired man. He had looked up as he dragged Ellie into the back of the van. He was skinny and gaunt and was not Johnny Vitale.

"Print me a copy of this please." said Mac. "I have an idea."

--

Ellie was woken by the sound of raised voices.

"Will you at least let me check if she's still alive?!" A familiar voice shouted. She couldn't open her eyes and there was a strong smell of rotten food combined with urine in her nostrils.

"Where am I?" she croaked out from where she lay on a damp carpet.

"Alright, check her out, but no more funny business." Ellie heard an odd metallic crunching sound. A sound she had only heard once before in real life.

_Two men had broken into the Flack family home. Don Sr was at work and only Ellie, Don Jr and their mother were home. Both siblings had been woken by their mother screaming. Ellie screamed herself when a dark figure dragged her from her bed and down the hall to the landing. She heard a gun being cocked and the man stopped dead. _

"_You take your hands off my sister, right now." The man threw Ellie to the floor and turned around with his hands up. Don stood confidently, despite being in nothing but his boxers. "Come on." he said reaching his right hand out to Ellie, who took it and scrambled behind her brother. Another scream from his mother made Don look away for a split second. Taking his chance the man lunged at Don, punching him in the gut. His gun flew past Ellie and stopped at the top of the stairs. Before Ellie could even contemplate shooting the man punching her brother repeatedly in the face, the front door below burst open and in ran what what seemed half of the NYPD_

"_Thank God for that silly panic button your father had installed." Carmella said as she held her daughter a few minutes later._

But there was no panic button now. No Donnie with the cavalry. Ellie felt like she just wanted to succumb to unconsciousness again when she felt a warmth on her arm.

"Ellie, open your eyes for me." Danny's gentle whisper filled her ear and Ellie sighed as she suddenly felt safe. Danny was by her side. He wouldn't let anything happen to her. "Come on, you can do it." he said. Ellie turned her head to him as best she could and forced her eyes open. The taste of blood hit the back of her throat and she gagged. Danny helped her sit up and lean against the wall.

"Oh..your face." she said, touching Danny's cheek. His glasses were gone, a black eye was forming and there was a cut on his cheekbone. There also was blood encrusted round the side of his mouth.

"Yeah thats what he got for trying to be a hero. And a cop."

Ellie started. She hadn't even noticed the man standing over them, a gun aimed at Danny's back.

Danny leaned n close to Ellie and inspected the cut on her forehead. "He's tweaking, took my gun and badge. That was once the other two guys got them from me. This prick decided _you'd_ be a better match for him." Anger flickered in Danny's eyes as Ellie noticed bruising on the man's knuckles.

"I think I lost a tooth." Ellie said. She pulled her lip back at the side and Danny nodded. There was a bloody gap of gum a few teeth from the back. "Crap." she muttered in reply.

"Your jaw is bruising and your lips are swollen at the side as well." Danny said, surveying Ellie' face.

"My head hurts too." she replied, holding the lump just above her ear.

"It was some kinda bat he hit you with I think, you were down before I could get to him. I'm sorry."

"Don't be silly, I know you would have put up one hell of a fight." Ellie kissed Danny's fingertips, too scared she'd hurt anywhere on his face. They turned as they heard the man give a laugh.

"Didn't anyone tell you never to eat red snow?" he laughed even more at his own joke.

"I think the phrase is _yellow_ snow, you junkie fuck." Two other men had joined them in the dingy living room. "Gimme that!" The tall, fat Italian New Yorker who had spoken, snatched Danny's police issue 9mm from the addict twitching in front of their hostages.

"Hey!" The gaunt young man said, but shrunk away under the older man's glare.

"So is someone gonna tell us what the hell is goin' on?" Danny asked, looking up from the floor where he sat with Ellie.

"Well...Mr Vitale, Angelo that is, wants to have a word with you personally." The younger man in a velour tracksuit spoke this time. He could not be more stereotypically dressed like someone in the Mafia. Danny knew exactly who he was talking about the second the name Vitale was out of his mouth.

"Who are you guys?" mumbled Ellie.

"Well we are going to be here for a while, we might as well get acquainted." The larger man replied. "I'm Jackie, this is Christopher..." he indicated the young Italian accompanying him. "...the guy renting this shit hole is Greg." He pulled a wallet from his back pocket. "You're apparently Detective Daniel Messer. Only you left sweetheart, we followed you for two days but I still don't know your name."

Ellie gripped Danny's arm tight. Why the hell had they been following her? Danny's own hand clutched onto her leg, just above the knee, where she'd pulled them up to her chest. To add to her discomfort, no one called her 'sweetheart' but her mother and Captain Gerard. There was just something equally as slimy about this man. But Danny's closeness prevented her from panicking too much. The man must know a lot about her already, what difference would knowing her name make?

"I'm Ellie, Ellie Flack."

"Did you say Flack? Any relation to the fine, upstanding Flacks who have policed this city since the dawn of fucking time?" Christopher asked with a laugh. Ellie nodded. She could feel tears welling in her eyes.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun..."

--

Everyone in Mac's team was now on board trying to find Ellie and Danny. Stella's eyes were getting sore staring at a computer screen for so long so she took a walk to clear her head. She eventually found herself approaching Flack's desk. He looked extremely tense - as she expected - and there seemed to be plenty of other cops milling around and bouncing ideas off one and other on the matter of his sister's whereabouts.

"Don, you don't need to be working, go be with your family."

Flack ignored her and continued to rifle through the papers in front of him. Stella sighed and leant against the wooden desk.

"Do you have any idea how much my dad will be itching to help find her? And he's been retired for two years."

Stella shook her head. Despite his long and successful career she had never worked with Don Flack Sr.

"When I became a cop I made a pledge to serve and protect. And when my sister was born - when I was _seven _years old - I promised I'd do everything in my power to make sure she was safe. So this isn't about my job or working, this is about the promise I made to Ellie and the rest of my family." Don's voice cracked and he turned away from Stella, who he'd been staring down from the second he started to speak.

"Okay Detective. You stick at it. Ellie's very lucky to have you fighting so hard for her." Stella squeezed Don's shoulder and left him. A few paces away she turned and watched him run his hands over his face before picking up the phone and dialing a short extension number.


	15. Breakthrough

**I got finally got paid and could buy Miami Season 5 Part 1 and NY Season 4 Part 1...so the CSIness has been flowing...and pouring right onto my little laptop...Yay! **

**Thanks to lily moonlight, xdannyx and Aspen Le Fay...you guys have been consistently reviewing and its helped keep me going...Also to xDollix...since your my best friend and my only fellow fic geek in RL... Not to mention the best proof reader/giggling mess a gal could ask for! This chaps a little longer than usual, but I think it worked best where it ends! Enjoy! **

--

"Of course I know the goddamn rules, I've been a cop for 36 years!" Mac looked ahead as he heard Stanton Gerrard shout down the phone in his hand. Flack stood with his arms folded next to the captain.

"What's going on?" Mac asked Flack.

"He's...uh, busy string pulling with the organised crime unit. They've got a guy on the inside of the Vitale family but they won't surrender a shred of info. Gerrard's trying to set up a phone call at least with the guy."

Mac knew that the identities of undercover cops were only known by one or two people at the most. There was no way Flack could have gotten this kind of permission on his own.

"The young man in question is one of the finest detectives this city has!" Flack rolled his eyes and smirked as a few of his colleagues laughed or made kissing noises and someone shouted "Yeah right!".

"Okay you have your officer call him as soon as you contact him." Gerrard slammed the black receiver down.

"Thank you, Sir." Flack said as Gerrard nodded and strode off.

"I think I can make your conversation with this undercover much less painful." Mac said. Flack raised his eyebrows. "This is apparently someone called Greg Brown. Frankie said he hangs around the Vitale kids and that he is also a junkie." Mac handed Flack the still from the CCTV footage. His sister's limp body was being dragged into the van and stupidly enough the man doing so looked up at the building and almost straight into the camera.

"Idiot." Flack muttered. He gave a sigh. "Okay Mac...thanks." he said and pushed the photo back into Mac's hands.

"She'll be alright. Danny's with her. I think the only reason they ended up taking him was because he wouldn't let Ellie go without a fight."

Flack smiled a little. He damn well _better_ have fought for her. "I'm gonna go update my parents." he said.

Mac held up a hand. "I'll do it, you don't want to risk missing the phone call you're waiting for."

--

Mac quickly made his way to the waiting room he that had been accommodating Ellie and Don's parents for the past few hours. Donald Flack Sr stood staring out of the wide window and Carmella Flack was perched on the black leather couch, her eyes closed and a handkerchief held over her mouth.

"Mr and Mrs Flack." Mac spoke softly and Carmella opened her eyes.

"Enough of the formalities Mac." Don Sr said without turning around to greet him. "First names will do fine." Donald and Mac had worked together on a few cases but Donald had mostly been assigned to dealing with gang warfare and organised crime. "I take it you have news on our daughter?" Still he continued to look out the window, rubbing the greying stubble on his chin. Mac sat down next to Carmella. She pursed her lips as if trying her best not to cry.

"We have a lead. Frances Montgomery identified one of the abductors as being an associate of the younger members of the Vitale family. His last current address on our system is a building that was demolished almost a year ago. We're still trying our best to track him down, plus Don has managed to get a chance to speak to the officer who is currently working undercover within the family."

"I take it that fool Stanton arranged it?" Donald had finally turned around, his attractive face looking drained of its colour. "I think he just wears people down with his incessant shouting, because he has no charm whatsoever." Mac restrained himself from smiling. It was true, Gerrard was very domineering from his height to his overly loud voice.

"Yes, he had a word, shall we say, with the organised crime unit and managed to convince the Lieutenant to get in touch with his contact."

"Are you sure it was the Vitale family?" Carmella asked.

"They were our first suspects in the abduction because it was the son of Angelo Vitale who murdered Crystal and attempted to kill Ellie. Once Frankie confirmed the ID of one of the men you saw outside, we knew for sure. My theory is they found out your daughter wasn't dead and they had a problem with that."

Carmella suddenly let out a loud sob and covered her face with her hands. "Are you saying they might already be dead?"

"I have one of my team constantly checking for a signal from Danny's cell. It been coming and going so its been difficult to triangulate a position."

Carmella raised her tear streaked face and clasped her hands over Mac's. "Please...help Donnie find her."

--

"Vitto's in the property market. Unlike the other two, the work he does is mostly legit. I think the guy you're after rents an apartment in a block that Vitto owns in Queens. Gets a discounted rate cus he buys so much crack." Flack gave a hollow laugh. Finally he was getting the information he needed to find his sister and best friend. He scribbled in his notepad as the unknown man spoke down the phone.

"So where is this building?" Flack asked.

"I'll have the office fax over the exact addresses, there's a few and I can't remember them offhand."

"Thats great, anything else I should know about this guy? Is he violent? Other than...y'know...beating on girls?" Flack gritted his teeth. He couldn't even force himself to watch the footage of the kidnapping. All he knew was that this..._Greg_ character had hit his sister. More than once.

"Not that I know of, he's slightly temperamental but thats the drugs for you."

"You're telling me. Anyway thanks buddy, I gotta get this to my team and work out our plan."

"Good luck." The undercover cop said.

"Yeah, you too pal. You too."

--

The men had separated Danny and Ellie. They didn't trust them being so close; they could be planning anything with their whispering. Danny had been left on the floor and Ellie was perched on the edge of one of the sofas. Its original colour may have been light brown but it was hard to tell with the various stains that covered it. The side she was sitting on had a large dark liquid mark, that looked like it could have been vomit, so she refused to sit back. The man she had come to know as Jackie was sitting next to her, his feet up on the rickety coffee table.

"Aw come on lil lady. Sit back, relax." he said.

"This is disgusting." she said quietly, as she trembled with the cold and and the dread that was making her chest feel tight.

"Y'know what? She's right, this place is pretty fucking sick Gregy-boy." Christopher and Jackie both burst out laughing. Even Greg failed to see the humour in what they had said. Whilst they chuckled loudly and Greg watched them apprehensively, Ellie noticed Danny give a tiny nod. His phone had just vibrated against his leg meaning he had gotten a delivery report from the text message he sent to Mac. Slight relief washed over Ellie. He had made contact with someone who could help them. That relief was short lived however as Christopher stopped laughing abruptly.

"What the fuck man?!" He had spotted the light of Danny's cell shining through his jeans. Before Danny had worked out what had happened, Christopher had kicked him hard in the stomach. He dug into Danny's pocket as he curled up in pain, struggling to breathe. Ellie ran to Danny's crumpled form only to be pushed away as Christopher produced the black phone from Danny's pocket.

"Trying to call for help _Detective_? Bring all your cop friends down us?!" he shouted and stamped down on Danny's chest.

"Maybe we'll deal with you before Mr Vitale gets here, its not like he wants to talk to you anyway!" Jackie was holding Ellie back and had Danny's own gun trained on him as he coughed and spluttered. There was a small click as Jackie put the safety off.

"No, please..." Ellie sobbed.

--

Mac's cell phone played its familiar ring tone as he sat as his desk. He had been taking a break from trying to find Danny and Ellie. He looked at the screen where he saw a text alert displayed. It was from Danny. He quickly pushed the button to read it, but it was in very crude text language that Mac couldn't quite make out. So he headed down the corridor to find someone more qualified in that field.

"Adam, you're young."

"Yes, I am...relatively speaking." he smirked. But Mac didn't seem to notice his joke.

"Can you translate this text message from Danny?"

Adam continued to tap away at his keyboard. He glanced once at Mac's phone that he had between them. It read: "WR SUMWHR IN QUNS"

Mac cleared his throat. "Uh...Whir...somewhir...n Quinns?"

"Queens. I know, I'm way aheada you Mac. For once." Mac raised a questioning eyebrow at Adam. "I managed to triangulate within a mile radius of the phone. That mile was inside Queens."

Adam was trying to get an exact location when Flack burst into the room.

"Mac I got SWAT ready to go. I got an address in Queens where this Brown kid lives."

"How...? Will I ever get in there first with anything?" Adam folded his arms. "So not fair..." he muttered.

"Its alright Adam, your time will come." Mac smiled back at his young protege as he left behind Flack.

--

It was 11.32pm when 5 squad cars, Mac's SUV and a SWAT van pulled up around the corner from the main apartment building.

"The van that they were taken in is around the corner, we have the right place." One of the uniformed officers said to the others. Mac and Stella walked swiftly into the building and started knocking on doors. The apartments had wide windows and lots of them and they were giving people the option of getting out or taking cover incase the situation escalated to a shoot out.

"Remember its apartment 3/1 they're in." Stella's radio crackled and Flack's voice came through.

"Got it." she said and continued on up the stairs. Once they were sure the other residents were safe they left and took up the positions at the cars. Stella watched as the SWAT team with their heavy armour skirted around the edge of the building to seal off every possible exit.

"Alright." said Mac to Flack. "Its time to make the call." Mac had arranged for a direct line to the apartment to be set up. This meant there would be no other calls going in or out. The team would want the perps' full attention and they wouldn't want them calling for their own back up. Flack took a deep breath knowing what he said could decide the fate of two people he cared for greatly. He hit the 'call' button on the phone and listened for the ring.

--

Ellie was begging for Jackie and Christopher to leave Danny alone. The two mobsters had been kicking him and spitting on him and calling him every name they could think of. They suddenly came to a halt as the cordless phone on the coffee table started to ring.

"I'll answer it." said Christopher, stopping Greg. "It could be Angelo." He picked the phone up. "Yeah."

"This is Detective Flack of the NYPD. To whom am I speaking?"

"Ohh! Its our friend, Flack! You found us quicker than we expected. Hows it goin'? Brutalised any more of my friends?"

"Will you shut up?!" Jackie snatched the phone from Christopher and Ellie could finally get to Danny. She bent over him and stroked his face gently. His breath rasped in his throat and he was clutching his chest.

"Danny, its over. They won't get past me again." Danny took hold of Ellie's hand and held on for dear life. "And Donnie's on the phone. They must have found us." As Danny seemed to calm down a little, Ellie turned to listen to Jackie.

"We're not quite ready to make negotiations yet. Mr Vitale hasn't arrived to sort his little problem."

"Why do you need to wait for him?"

"Cus little sis is a valuable witness."

"She didn't witness a thing Jackie, she was unconscious the whole time. She doesn't even have a clue who Johnny is."

There was a long pause.

"Thats right Jackie, we know it was him even without a testimony from her." Flack said. "Now I know you ain't gonna budge easily, so how about we make a fair trade?"

"I'm listening."

"Me for my sister. You let her go, you still got two hostages to negotiate with."

Jackie gave a laugh. "Two cops? Alright, unarmed and alone, you gotta deal."

"Flack, what the hell are you doing?!" Mac demanded as Jackie hung up the phone.

Flack was busy taking his trench coat and scarf off.

"I have to make sure she's safe Mac. If this is how it has to be, then I'll do it." he pulled his holster from his belt and placed it on the hood of the car. The phone Mac now had in his hand began to ring.

"Yes?" he said as he answered it.

"Tell him to take the vest off too, I don't want him hiding anything in there." Jackie's hoarse voice replied, followed quickly by the receiver clicking and the line going dead.


	16. Taxes Hard At Work

**The weather here has been so bad recently, I've become very addicted to this little fic...So here's the next chappie much quicker than I expected...**

--

Greg jumped as there were three loud, deliberate knocks on his apartment door. Ellie gasped as he pulled it open just as wide as the chain would allow. Jackie nodded at their reluctant host. Greg closed the door, slowly slid the chain from its clip and opened the door fully. Don walked in confidently and allowed Christopher to pat him down and make sure he was unarmed.

"Donnie." Ellie whispered. "What are you doing?"

"You're going, come on." he held his left hand out to his sister.

"I don't want to leave him. Can't he go instead? He needs help." Ellie was still holding onto Danny's hand.

"Sorry, you just ain't as valuable to us as we first thought." Jackie interjected.

"He'll be fine. I got him. Please, just get up, Moms worried sick about you." Don's voice didn't sound panicked or scared. He was completely unperturbed and his tone was in 'big brother' mode, like he was telling Ellie off for not doing as she was asked or for staying out too late. He raised his eyebrows at her and reached his hand further. Ellie got slowly to her feet and took his hand. It was strong and warm as always and he pulled her gently towards him.

"When you get downstairs, you walk slowly and keep your hands out of your pockets, just incase. And you go straight to Mac." His bright, blue eyes were slightly glazed and locked on his sister's own equally bright, green eyes. As Ellie made to move for the door, Flack's grip tightened on her hand.

"I'm so sorry I ever let Gerard be sleazy around you." he whispered. Ellie smiled as she struggled to hold back more tears.

"Don't talk like that. You'll get outta here and I'll get Mom to organise a Corned Beef Wednesday for us. Okay?"

Flack smiled a little. When they were kids living in Queens, Wednesday night was his favourite dinner of the week. "Okay, but I'm still sorry. I should have done something about it."

"Its his fault for being a total creep. Not yours."

Flack nodded and let Ellie go. She slipped quickly and quietly from the apartment, only glancing back once to snatch a last look at Danny.

--

Ellie practically threw herself down the stairs as she raced to main door. As she reached it, she pushed it open slowly. She was met by several gun barrels pointing her way.

"Lower your weapons!" A voice Ellie recognised shouted out and she watched as all the officers took their guns off of her. Mac Taylor appeared from the mass of faces and walked to Ellie, reaching out to her.

"Come on, we've got a paramedic waiting to check you out."

"Okay." she mumbled and walked alongside Mac - who had his hand around her shoulders - behind the line of cars. As she looked around she could see a crowd had gathered. Many people in dressing gowns or pyjamas under their coats stood chatting and shivering in the snow. She heard one man shout: "Oh this is my tax dollars at work?! Helping some junkie's friend, while I stand in the freezing cold?!" People were crossing the street to get a better look and staring from lit rooms in the surrounding buildings. As she sat at the back door of the ambulance, Stella approached her.

"Can you tell me what its like in there? SWAT will find an idea of a layout very useful." The young paramedic was checking over Ellie's head wound.

"Uh, I was only in the living area. One of the doors was ajar though, it was a small bedroom. I presume the other door was the bathroom cus the kitchen was through an archway in the living room."

"And were they all holding up in the living room?"

"Yeah, they didn't move except when they went to the bathroom."

Stella smiled and placed a hand over Ellie's. With the state she was in, Stella dreaded to think what Danny might be like.

"Is Danny alright?" she asked.

"He's okay, hanging in there. They beat him pretty bad. But he was sitting up and talking just before I left."

"Good, well don't worry. Don and Mac are two of the best negotiators we have, they'll get him out."

--

There was radio silence for a good half an hour between the apartment and the police line. Mac watched as the patrol officers placed barriers along the pavement to stop the crowd getting any closer than they already were.

"What is it with people and being so goddamn nosy?" Stella asked as she strapped herself into her Kevlar vest. Mac raised an eyebrow at her. She wasn't one for using curse words of any kind. Stella realised instantly what his expression was for. "This is just getting to me. It was bad enough having one of our team in there, but now Flack. What the hell is he doing?" In the time Mac had to stare at the unlit window that his colleagues were behind, he had been able to sit and think.

"He's protecting his sister the best way he can. Plus him being in there might not be such a bad idea. He can look out for Danny and try talk them out of the situation as well."

"I guess." said Stella. "Speaking of negotiating, I'm going to go see if the medics have managed to convince Ellie to go to the hospital."

"If she's half as stubborn as Don, I doubt it!" Mac called out over his shoulder as Stella walked away.

--

"Anything new, Mac?" Ellie asked as he wandered up to the back of the ambulance. She was wrapped in a blue fleece blanket and she had a dressing over the cut where her head had hit the sidewalk outside the precinct.

"No, not yet. I reckon Don is working his magic."

"I hope so."

Just as Mac went to reassure Ellie with a hug, like he had done before, the phone began to ring.

"Mac Taylor." he said as Stella appeared at his side.

"Mac, its me." Flack's voice was on the other end of the line. "Our friend Jackie here has a proposition."

"Detective Taylor. I just got a call from my boss. He says I'm not to let these two pigs go without a good reason."

"What does he want Jackie?" Mac's teeth were gritted. Tight. He wasn't in the mood for games or long drawn out explanations.

"You can have the boys back, if you stop pursuing Johnny. Angelo says his son is a young man, full of promise. He can't go to jail, he's got too much ahead of him."

"He committed a crime, he has to pay for it. Even if I did agree to let him off, why would you believe me?" Mac questioned.

Jackie gave a hollow laugh. "Flacky-boy here said that you are a man of your word. So is Mr Vitale. If you give him yours, he'll take it. Although if you go back on it, there will most definitely be dire consequences."

Before Mac could respond he spotted Captain Gerrard getting out of his unmarked car.

"Taylor! What are you playing at?! You were not given clearance to go around negotiating with Mafia scum!"

Ellie was on her feet, her blanket left behind. "Gerrard, my brother is in there. There needed to be someone on the outside in control." Gerrard merely batted his hand at her like he was trying to shoo off a fly.

"Scum are we?!" Mac heard down the phone before the line went dead once again.

"They heard you Stanton! Now we've lost contact and you might have..."

Mac spun on his heels. A gunshot rang out sending the crowd into panic and the police officers behind their cars. "Move in! Now!" Mac shouted down his walkie talkie and the SWAT team flooded into the building. Another two shots cut through the screams and the stampede of the on-lookers. Ellie sprinted to the barrier as she saw them light up the room she had been in. All she could hear was her heart beating in her head. The seconds that passed felt like hours as she gripped the rough wood of the yellow police fence.

--

Only moments later, the men in their black uniforms began to file quickly out into the street. Ellie ducked under the barrier and started running as she spotted Don; walking, breathing, living.

"Donnie! You're alright!" He heard his sister cry out and ran to her.

Don collided with Ellie and pulled her into a tight embrace. He could feel his baby sister shaking as tears fell down her face and she sobbed loudly. He held on, not wanting to let go - for his own comfort and because he knew what would follow quickly behind. If he could just keep her attention away from the building a few minutes more. Ellie took a few deep breaths and calmed quickly. She leaned back and took in Don's face, a face she was scared she'd never see again.

"Oh you're bleeding." Ellie said noticing that blood had soaked through the arm of his shirt, where there was a rip from a bullet graze.

"What on my arm? I've been blown up, this is just a scratch. I'll be fine." he gave a grin. A grin that didn't quite reach his eyes and this unsettled Ellie. She looked over his shoulder, seeing movement. The SWAT officers had Greg and Jackie in cuffs. Christopher was in their custody too, but he was limping behind; a deep wound in his leg leaving a trail of blood in the glistening snow and curses in the cold night air.

"Where's Danny." she asked quietly. When Don didn't answer, Ellie's stomach dropped and her heart seemed to be crushed under sudden panic. She shook her brother and questioned him again.

"Where _is_ he?!"

Don could hardly keep eye contact with Ellie. His ice blue eyes were glazed with tears and he swallowed hard.

"Tell me, Don." But before he could answer Ellie heard feet crunching in the frozen snow. As she looked up all sound rushed from her ears and everything started to move in slow motion. Blood. Much more than before. Danny's skin was no longer its usual tanned, but instead was sickly pale. Something was forcing Ellie forwards and she slipped out of Don's grip and started running to the stretcher and the men carrying Danny. She was completely unaware of her brother shouting. Shouting for her to stay back. Unaware until he caught up and grabbed her arm and she came to a sudden halt.

"No! Danny!" she screamed out as the din of the crowd flooded back into her head. "No! Please, no..." Ellie was reaching out, still trying to move on. But it was impossible. Don had his strong arms clamped around her waist and shoulders and had dug his heels into the snow.

"Ellie, stop. You have to stay with me." Don shouted. He couldn't bare to watch his friend being carried past them to the ambulance, his life pouring from a gunshot wound in his side. Don was dragged down as Ellie collapsed to her knees. She was weeping loudly as she dug her fingers into the icy surface. She felt sick. And angry. This wasn't fair. "Danny!" she bawled out once more - trying in vain for a response - as Danny's unconscious shape was lifted into the back of the ambulance and the doors closed behind him.


	17. This Waiting Thing

**One of the longest chapters so far I'd say...Still changing things around so I don't know how many more I'll have just yet...I need help from my recently adopted muse...;) Thanks to those reviewing, it feels awesome that you've stuck around this long. Enjoy!**

--

The city streets had flown by in a neon blur and Ellie somehow found herself on a bed in the ER, being checked over by a friendly young doctor named Bruce. His smile and gentle manner did little to quell the knots twisting in her stomach. She didn't want to be here. But Don had told her to get checked over properly and she thought the less protesting the quicker it was over. Only then would she be able to try hunt down Danny.

"The guy who came in with the gunshot wound, I take it you know him?"

Ellie looked up, disturbed from her thoughts when Bruce broken the silence. "How'd you know that?"

"You're fidgeting like hell and I saw you with that cop before. Don't worry, a couple of butterfly stitches in this head here and I'll let you go."

"Thanks" Ellie mumbled.

"I'll go grab some, just give me a minute."

--

As soon as Ellie was cleaned up, she was off. The nurse in charge of the ER had informed her that Danny was in surgery.

"He's likely to go to the ICU, so if you'd like to wait there I'll inform the consultant you're on your way." she had said. Don was nowhere to be found so Ellie made her way to Intensive Care and found a rather uncomfortable plastic chair to slouch down on whilst she waited. Every fibre of her being was aching. What little energy she had left was going into willing Danny to hang on. As she sat with her head in her hands she realised she hadn't felt like this since the terror explosion that Don was seriously injured in. She had to fly home early from her spring break in Miami and found him unconscious with Mac watching over him. She couldn't believe this was happening all over again to someone else she loved. Loved? Ellie considered this for a moment. Did she love Danny or was this terrible situation just exaggerating all of her emotions? She tried to stop herself from even thinking it. That was definitely taking things far too seriously. But was it? He had been there for her in times of need - like when Don had been hurt and she had no one else nearby. Even simple things like sending her text messages of encouragement when she felt like giving up her course, calling her at ridiculous hours of the morning from the lab when she couldn't sleep or rescuing her from a creep in a club. She smiled to herself. That police badge really came in handy sometimes. It was the tiny things that mattered to Ellie and what Danny had done for her in the last few days was anything but tiny. Perhaps love wasn't such an extreme word after all.

--

It was nearing 3.40am when Don finally tracked his sister down. He found her sitting in a cold corridor, her dark brown curls looking bedraggled and if it was possible her skin was paler than usual. Her eyes were closed as she rested her head on the wall behind the chairs she was sat at. Don was filled with sympathy as he finally saw the extent of her injuries. The right side of her face was covered in bruises, her arms had a mass of scratches on them and blood had seeped through the white gauze taped to her forehead.

"Ellie?" he said quietly, unsure whether she was sleeping or not. She opened her eyes and he sat down next to her.

"You and your stupid career." she muttered.

"What?"

"Its so dangerous, why'd you have to become a damn cop?" Ellie answered. "I mean look, you got shot." she indicated his upper arm. He was in his white vest and there was a bandage wrapped around the now freshly stitched wound.

"Danny chose his own life too you know."

"Yeah, but if you weren't a detective, then I wouldn't know him and this whole sitting around waiting thing wouldn't be happening." She sighed deeply. Don put his arm around Ellie's shoulders and pulled her closer. She seemed to have fallen big time for Danny. He could see why she would. He had always been a true friend to him, dependable and loyal.

"I get it sis, I mean he is _almost _as good looking as me."

Just as Ellie gave a small laugh, the corridor door creaked open to reveal their parents. The two Flack children stood and Carmella pulled her tall son down to hug him and Donald gathered his daughter into his arms, almost hiding her small form completely from view. Carmella beckoned her daughter to her and hugged onto her as well.

"All we heard was that someone had been shot...they didn't know who at the station." she said kissing Ellie multiple times all over her face.

"It was Danny, Mom. He got shot." Ellie said.

"Oh no! What happened?" Carmella asked.

"I'm not entirely sure Mom, I'm still trying to get the story straight in my head. For once I get it when people I question say 'It all happened so fast'. I'll never get annoyed at that again." Don answered, looking at his feet. He felt his father come up behind him and put an arm around his shoulders. Standing side by side they looked so alike. The same sparkling baby blues and Don's hair starting to grey in the same way as his Dad's.

"Ellie I"m sorry." Don continued. "I'm so sorry. I've treated you terribly. I thought I'd lost you that morning. And when I should have been looking out for you, I practically denied you as my sister." Carmella and Donald looked between each other and the oldest and youngest of their children.

"Its okay Donnie. I forgive you." Ellie fell into Don's arms. "How can I not after what you did for me?"

"Damn straight." he murmured in her ear with a smile. Donald and Carmella stood watching their children, proud of the adults they had grown into.

"My little Fiorella and my big Donald." Carmella said, tears glazing her dark brown eyes. "Words can't describe how glad I am you're alright." Donald pulled his wife closer, running a hand over her blonde, perfectly styled hair.

"Come on." he said. "Lets get you home, they'll be here all night I'm sure." Carmella gave both Don and Ellie one last kiss before joining Donald down the corridor.

"You let me know how Danny is!" Donald called back to them.

--

After what felt like days of pacing the shiny corridor floor, slouching in chairs and looking at Don's watch, the doors of the O.R. opened and two nurses steered a gurney with Danny on it out and past Ellie and Don. His torso was heavily bandaged, there was a drip in his arm and a breathing tube in his mouth. Ellie closed her eyes against the bruising on his body and face, wishing she had been strong enough to stop that attack. Another young man appeared behind the two women pushing the gurney.

"When can I see him again?" Ellie asked him as she watched Danny disappear around the corner.

"Let us get him settled in his room, then we can maybe let you see him. Are you immediate family?"

"No, no we're not."

"I'm sorry I can only allow family in at the moment. We can't have a lot of people in the room with his critical condition."

"His parents are out of the country on a winter vacation, we're all he has just now." Don had stopped the nurse in his tracks with a hand to his upper chest. The young man looked between the siblings. He gave a loud sigh.

"Alright, I'll speak to the consultant, see if its okay."

--

Shortly after the nurse had disappeared through a set of double doors, a short, balding man in bloody scrubs showed up.

"I'm Mr Feldman, are you the friends of Detective Messer?" he asked. The siblings stood holding hands, Ellie unable to take her eyes off of Danny lying in the bed through the window.

"Yeah, I'm Detective Flack and this is my sister Ellie."

Feldman's mind cast him back several years when he was a young doctor, not long out of college. "I believe we may have met before." In his mind he could see the scene clear as it had happened yesterday. There was a distraught woman clutching onto two of her young sons. Closer to the window of a private room, a young boy, maybe 10 or 11 stood in the darkened corridor, holding onto his sister's hand. She couldn't have been any older than 4, too young to fully understand what was going on. And here they were again, looking just as lost, just as close.

"I was on the team who treated your father when he was stabbed. I remember it was touch and go for a while."

"That was a good...18 or 19 years ago, you really remember that?"

"He was my first proper patient when I left med school and my university hospital training was done."

Don nodded. "So what's going on with Danny?

Ellie tore her gaze from Danny to listen.

"The prognosis doesn't look particularly good. Along with the massive blood loss and damage from the bullet to his abdomen, he's had a head trauma. After we gave him sedatives, he stopped responding to painful stimuli. It would appear he has slipped into a coma." Don's grip on Ellie's hand tightened.

"Can...can I sit with him?" Ellie murmured. "Don't they say talking to people in comas helps?"

Feldman sighed. "It has been known that people who come out of a coma remember the things that have been said and done around them. He could pick up on the support from your presence, I think the mind is more powerful that it gets credit for. The simple fact you're in the room could will him on to survive."

"Its that a yes, doc?" Don asked.

"Since his parents haven't made it yet, I'll let you keep him company for the time being." Without another word Ellie was through the door of Danny's small private room. The lighting was dull, but she could see he had been hooked up to various beeping machines. There were tubes and wires everywhere and they seemed to be leeching off of him, instead of helping him. Ellie stared at his heartbeat, as it flitted along the monitor screen in lightning like blips. Danny's hand was cool to the touch, but Ellie held on regardless. Don pulled a chair up to the bed for his sister and slouched into one of his own in the corner. Ellie looked over at him and he met her gaze.

"Don't even think about telling me I don't have to stay. I ain't going anywhere. At least until they find Johnny Vitale. I want first pop at that son of a bitch." Don's anger about the situation was beginning to surface now the blind panic had subsided and his guilt was fading.

"What's going to happen to Frankie?" asked Ellie. Along the way she had found out that Frankie had been seeing this Johnny character.

"Depends on how good her lawyer is. She could be charged with accessory to the murder, but she could claim she was under duress. Although she wasn't being threatened when she drugged you, so I don't know what'll happen there."

Ellie had been so disappointed. Frankie, her friend, was involved all along. If only she had told her what was going on with the drugs she would have helped her and maybe Crystal wouldn't be dead. Ellie gave a sad sounding sigh and went back to watching Danny's chest rise and fall in steady rhythm.


	18. Arrest

**I must apologise for the slight delay this time...I was stuck for ages on how exactly to end this chapter as I had written lots for the next already...Not to mention I was down in Cardiff for 5 days for the opening night of Madonna's tour! It was awesome! So I haven't had the internet but I hauled my little laptop down and managed to get a lot of writing done, so here it is!**

--

Ellie woke abruptly from a light sleep. The sun was shining in through the now open blinds in Danny's hospital room. She had passed out with her head on his bed and her hand still in his. Don was snoring quietly in the corner with his arms folded and his chin resting on his chest. Ellie felt like she'd closed her eyes for a few seconds, but looked at the clock on the wall and realised it was 10.22am. She had been out for at least 3 hours. Don's phone vibrated loudly on the windowsill and he bolted awake. Ellie was unnerved, as it seemed unnatural for Danny not to stir with the racket it made.

"Flack." Don said, followed by a loud yawn. "Sorry, say that again." Ellie looked up, intrigued by his tone. "You're positive?...Okay, I'm on my way." he hung up and got to his feet. "That was Mikey down at the station. My inside guy says he overheard some of the guys mention taking Johnny Vitale to a new safe home. He's got a location."

"Haven't you had enough danger and excitement to last you a while?" Ellie asked as Don threw on his suit jacket and made for the door. He stopped and stood looking between Danny and Ellie. Yes, he could be risking his life, but that was just his job. He had to make sure the men responsible for the two other people in the room suffering so much were brought to justice.

"I have to finish this." He avoided Ellie's pleading gaze. "You call me if anything changes." And with that he swept from the room and closed the door behind him.

--

Ellie was left alone in a room silent except for the constant bleep of the heart monitor. Her stomach growled angrily at her. She didn't want to leave Danny for a second despite her hunger. What if something happened to him while she was gone? Just as Ellie's thoughts were playing out all the worst case scenarios she could think of, the door opened once more. Aiden came in quietly and closed the door with her foot. In her hands were two bottles of fruit juice.

"Hey." Ellie said. "You're Aiden, right?" She recognised the attractive, young CSI from the precinct though she didn't know her very well.

"Yeah, thats me. I met Don downstairs, he said you hadn't had anything to eat, so I brought juice." Aiden held a bottle out for Ellie and she accepted it most gratefully.

"Thanks." Ellie said after she guzzled half of it down in one go. Aiden had taken up Don's spot near the window and looked sorrowfully at Danny. Ellie had been so fraught herself that she had quite forgotten there were other people who cared just as much for Danny. Ellie went to ask if she was alright, before stopping herself.

'_Fucking stupid question_." she thought.

"How are you doing?" Aiden asked of her instead.

Ellie sighed deeply. "I'm just shaken up really, a little achy." She indicated her face; Aiden flinched a little at seeing her wounds.

"So the rumours flying around the lab are true then? Well I know they are, I saw one of the photos."

"Photos?" Ellie questioned. She guessed the rumour was about Danny and herself, but photos?

"Uh, you didn't know?"

Ellie shook her head.

"Gerrard had you two followed. The photo I saw looked like Danny leaning in to kiss you. Danny got thrown off the case because of it...He said he didn't regret it though. I guess he wanted to do it and didn't care or think about the consequences." Aiden looked away from Ellie's worried looking gaze, her luminous stare boring into her. Ellie felt panic run through her. Everyone knew. But as she looked back at Danny, a stillness washed over her, making her thumping heart slow back to its comfortable rate. So what if everyone knew? He meant so much to her now, she was almost at the stage for shouting it from the rooftops. She doubted Danny would have a problem with it either, he wasn't known for being particularly reserved about his thoughts or feelings on all matters.

"Oh well, I guess people would have found out soon anyway." Ellie smiled as she watched Danny's unmoving face. Aiden observed her adoring look and they both sat in silence for a while, just watching Danny, willing him to come back to them.

"When I first started at the lab, I thought Danny was super cute, until I realised what a royal pain in the ass he could be. Everyone used to think we were together with the stupid flirting and joking. But he's become like a big brother to me. He cares about me, but we can't help picking on each other." Aiden broke the few moments quiet, obviously letting out something that had been playing on her mind since she heard that he had been shot last night. She took a swig of juice and sighed.

"Oh, I meant to tell Don, but we got a warrant to search the Vitale home. About 9 o'clock this morning Hawkes and Stella found a blood stained jacket in the trash. Adam confirmed about 10 minutes before I went off shift that it was Crystal's blood. So we got him good, damn good."

"Yeah, if Frankie testifies then he'll be pretty stuck." Ellie answered.

"All we need now, is for Don to catch up with him. And soon."

--

It was mid-afternoon when a nurse came to check Danny's drip and take note of any changes on the assortment of machines that were arranged around the head of the bed. As the nurse made to leave, Ellie could have sworn she saw Danny's eyelids twitch.

"Uh, nurse...his eyelids moved."

"Sometimes when someone is in a coma, their body makes involuntary movement. If it continues, try speaking to him, he could be waking up."

Ellie's mood suddenly became much more optimistic and she ran her thumb over Danny's discoloured knuckles. Aiden stood up and leaned over Danny, studying his face. "Come on Messer, if you can hear us, give us a signal."

It wasn't Danny, but the heart monitor that next gave them a signal. It started flashing and beeping violently. Danny began to convulse and Aiden ran into the corridor after the nurse. A louder alarm sounded and four or five medical staff ran into the room. Ellie was pushed back as a man began the heart massage procedure on Danny.

"Nothing, doctor!" A young woman called as the man stopped compressions.

"Alright, let's shock him." The man blocking Ellie's view said and the nurse handed him a defibrillator. He rubbed the lubrication over both sides and asked everyone to stand back. Danny's body jolted violently as the doctor pressed the pads to his chest and fired hundreds of volts through his heart.

"Still nothing!"

"Clear!" The doctor shouted and went in to shock Danny again.

"Is he gone?! Please tell me he's not gone!" Ellie cried.

"Miss, you can't be here. Can you take her out?" The doctor looked to Aiden who grasped Ellie's wrist and pulled her from the room.

--

Somewhere in Harlem, Flack and a team of uniforms were coming up on a run down house.

"Good place to have a safe house. Who'd think to look for Italians in this neighbourhood?" A short, stocky cop muttered in Flack's ear. Flack held up his right hand and the group came to a stand-still. He signaled for some of the cops to surround the house and they disappeared down the garden paths on either side of the wooden structure. Flack climbed the stairs on the porch and bashed hard on the dilapidated door.

"NYPD! Open up Johnny!" There was a clatter from inside the house and Flack took a few steps back. He braced himself and with one kick managed to practically knock the door off of its hinges. "Johnny Vitale! This is is police! We have you surrounded!" Little did Flack know but this wasn't entirely true. He soon found out though as Johnny Vitale burst out through the back door and wasn't stopped by anyone in the back yard.

"Shit!" Flack shouted. "Why do they always run?!" He sprinted through the house after Johnny and saw he had made it into the next garden. Flack vaulted the fence easily and sped through the overgrown grass. The next fence was higher and chain-link and slightly harder to tackle for both fugitive and pursuer. Flack's long strides helped him catch up to Johnny quicker than he expected it would seem as Flack saw him look back in surprise. They had cleared three more fences before they hit a house that must have had several children living there. Johnny hit a snow covered rocking horse type toy and fell face first into a drift. Flack was on him in a flash and twisted his arm up behind his back. He dragged him to his feet and thrust him down the garden path and out into the street. Several officers stood waiting, guns raised. They holstered them again as they saw Flack had their suspect in custody.

"John Vitale, you are under arrest of the murder of Crystal Kelly and the attempted murder of Fiorella Flack." Flack had unclipped his handcuffs from the back of his belt.

"And here I thought her name was Ellie...That's your little sis ain't it?"

Flack responded by pushing him harder, causing Johnny to slip on the ice. "I did think it was a bit of a shame to leave her to die, I mean, I'd have fucked her! Shown her what its like to be with a real man." Flack threw him face down onto the bonnet of a squad car and put the handcuffs on way too tight. Johnny cried out in pain as the cuffs cut into his wrists and Flack picked him up.

"Get this prick outta my face." Flack spat out and shoved him into the hands of a uniformed officer, who placed him in the back seat of one of the cars. He stuck his hand into his coat pocket as his phone rang. "Flack." He said, not recognising the number. He could hear short breaths from the other end. "Hello?" There was a small whimper and he knew who it was. "Ellie? What's wrong?" Flack asked, fearing the worst as he realised Ellie was crying quietly. She took a deep breath.

"Don...It's Danny..."


	19. Thirty Candles

**I must apologies profusely for taking so damn long! This chapter was positively satanic to finish! Was an awful place for me to get severe block with Danny's fate hanging in the balance! Anyway, this is it. I've ended on a rather epic chapter I must say...**

**So as always...ENJOY! **

--

His sleep was being disturbed. Dreams being interrupted more and more often by the sounds of voices and this time by warm air being pumped into him without his permission, making his chest feel tight. He tried to breathe on his own but couldn't, his lungs were burning now. He retched, there was something blocking his throat. He might have thrown up if there was anything in his stomach. He wanted to reach up and pull whatever it was out, but he couldn't move his arms or call out for help. Lights began flashing behind his eyes.

"Just leave me to sleep." he thought. "Let me go...please..." The commotion finally stopped. But the silence and dark was much worse this time, he felt incredibly alone and cold. Like he was being dragged down through the murky depths of a cold, jet-black ocean.

"No, I've changed my mind, pull me back." There was pain in the light but he needed it. It was where he belonged.

Sparks flew through every inch of his body, but the warmth withdrew as quickly had it had come. Dull, far of voices, speaking hurriedly. He couldn't make out what they were saying.

"_Clear!_" He heard. A man's voice stuck out this time, much closer, like he was yelling in his ear. More sparks, much stronger this time. They ignited his very core and fresh, cool air rushed into his lungs.

A repetitive bleep. Then another voice. Not a new one. One he recognised. And wanted to hear again. But only if it didn't sound so distraught. He didn't like hearing her upset.

"_Is he gone?! Please tell me he's not gone..._"

"_Miss, you can't be here. Can you take her out?_"

"No, don't take her away from me. Let me hear her again, let me feel her again."

--

"Wake up..."

"Open your eyes, Danny."

"Open your eyes or I drop the wet dog on you." Danny jumped awake. Ellie was standing over him, Indy in her arms, his fur slicked down.

"Awright, awright!" Danny held up his hands in defence.

"What's up? Are you alright?" Ellie asked noticing beads of sweat on Danny's forehead and a distressed look in his sea blue eyes. She put Indy down on the towel she had laid out only to have him scamper all over the room and soak the carpet.

"Ooh, how you doin'? I like you in short shorts." Danny winked. Ellie smiled and rolled her eyes. She sat herself on the edge of Danny's bed and watched helplessly as Indy wreaked havoc in the living room.

"So what's with the cold sweat?" she asked.

"Its stuffy in here is all."

"You are a bad liar Danny." Ellie said, turning to face him

Danny sighed loudly. "I had that dream again. Reliving all the stuff I remember from the coma."

It had been a long nine days before Danny finally regained consciousness. As he opened his eyes fully for the first time since the shooting, Ellie was first in this line of sight. She was a fuzzy outline, but he knew it was her. He reached up and touched her hair, tendrils wrapping around his fingers. Then his mother appeared on the other side, her voice comforting him as it had always done since he was born. He had had a further two surgeries to supplement the emergency operation he received on the night he was shot. Mac decided that once Danny was finally out of hospital - more than a six weeks after he went in - that a few weeks vacation time was in order and wouldn't let him return to work without plenty of rest and time to himself.

"I think I keep having it because I got time to think about it. I need to get back to work." Ellie had turned back to check on Indy. He had jumped onto the sofa and shook himself dry all over it.

"Still, this is amazing. No pager or phones ringing at stupid hours. And you..." He reached up and gripped Ellie's shoulder. She turned and climbed over Danny's legs with the intention of straddling his lower torso, but Danny gave a groan.

"Ow, careful! That still hurts, y'know."

"You weren't saying that yesterday morning!"

"Yeah, that was before I ran out of the painkillers the doctor gave me." Danny said with a laugh. Ellie ran a finger over the long, still stitched scar on his side before she leaned over him on all fours and kissed him softly on he lips. Danny grinned his lopsided grin, that made Ellie just melt on the spot.

"Okay, time to get up lazy bones! We gotta get ready for this party, its 5 already!" she said ruffling his messy, mousy hair.

"Seriously?!" Danny asked, a look of disbelief on his face.

"Seriously." Ellie repeated, getting up to go find her ever elusive mascara. "I only have to put on my make up and dress, then I'm ready. So move your ass."

Danny hoisted himself off of the bed. "You wanna, uh...join me in the shower?"

Ellie turned to him with a smirk. "As tempting as that sounds, I've already washed my hair, sorry." She stuck her tongue out as Danny pouted and hobbled to the bathroom.

"I'll have some pain killers waiting for you when you get out!"

--

"Hurry up Messer! We're going to be late!" Danny was busy sticking a fresh dressing over his scar. The stitches were coming out in a few days but he wasn't taking any risks, especially with a night out on the cards. "Come on!" Ellie shouted. For a small person, she couldn't half make a lot of noise when she wanted to.

"Okay, Flack I'll only be...!" Danny paused. "Wait." he said to himself in an undertone. "That sounds so wrong."

"What sounds so wrong?" Ellie stuck her head around the half open door.

"Calling you Flack." Danny scrunched up his face. "You're way too cute for that."

"Aw, I'm glad you think so. But...sweetness aside, and as much as I _love_ your chest, please get a shirt on. Mac called and said he's on his way."

Danny grinned and tensed his muscles.

"Enough!" Ellie said and wandered back into the living room. He spotted two white pills and a glass of water on his bedside cabinet. He smiled as he swallowed them down. He wondered what had he done to deserve someone willing to take care of him when he needed the help most. Ellie had practically moved in with him whilst he recovered fully at home. Even now, when he was much better, she hadn't left. And he liked it that way. Indy seemed to like it too. As Danny ran a little wax through his hair, he heard the door buzzer go. He listened as he heard Ellie's heels click across the wooden floor.

"Hello?" she said, pressing the silver answer button.

Adam's voice rang out over the intercom. "Move your asses! Mac's waiting in the car! He's not too happy about being double parked!"

"Yeah come on! I need a drink!"

"Sheldon?!" Ellie asked with a laugh. He wasn't the type for getting wasted. Or so she thought. "You really are a bit of a dark horse."

"Well, it is Flack's 30th! I'll have to have maybe a few...hundred or so!"

Ellie giggled. "Okay, we'll be down in a second when Danny's finished dolling himself up."

"Hey!" Ellie heard from the bedroom and let the intercom button go.

--

Danny took one last quick look in the mirror and pushed his glasses up his nose a little. He'd gained a small scar on his cheekbone from one of Jackie's many gold rings. He noticed it every time he looked at himself, but he thought it would serve as a good reminder that he was a survivor. He ran his hand through his hair once more, adjusted his black belt and headed for the door.

"Boom!" Danny said as his gaze travelled the length of Ellie. She stood near the door, one hand on her hip. Under her other arm was a broad purple box that nestled perfectly in the curve of her waist. That waist and the rest of her body was wrapped tightly into a bright teal satin pencil dress that reached her knees. It had two thick straps, a low neckline and her shoes and jewellery were all black.

"Right back at ya." Ellie said, taking Danny in. He was in a perfectly pressed, black suit and a crisp, white shirt with the top few buttons undone. "You do scrub up well." She added, beckoning him from the bedroom door frame where he had come to halt. "You look very pretty. Seems the wait was worth it after all." Ellie said with a grin as Danny rubbed noses with her.

"You look very pretty too." he replied and placed a kiss on her cheek. He really had to stop doing that. Ellie's face was starting to hurt with all the grinning she was doing. Danny released his grip around her waist and picked up a small gift wrapped box from the kitchen dresser along with his keys.

"What did you get him?" Danny asked as they walked down the stairs. There was a beautiful, satin bow in a darker shade of purple around the flat box Ellie was carrying.

"New pin striped shirt and a nice blue tie. It'll make up for the one that got wrecked when he decided to take my place. And the tie that you bled on." She smiled and squeezed his arm.

They had reached the main door and Danny held it open. "That was a nice thought." he said, thinking his solid silver pen suddenly seemed over the top and silly. After surviving a shooting and lying in a hospital bed for over a month, he realised the simple things in life were what mattered. Friends, family and just living life how you wanted. Danny had stopped restraining himself from eating chinese when the notion took him and started reading books again. He began to make an effort to enjoy himself as much as possible. Along with this he was honest and open with Ellie and everyone else he cared for. Life was too short to let her get away.

--

As they stepped outside and onto the grey sidewalk they were greeted by a warm breeze. Hawkes and Adam stood, both dressed to the nines, and gave a cheer as Ellie and Danny finally made it.

"This way!" Adam said. "Mac managed to get a space a little down the road." Ellie had parted from Danny and went to greet the two men. He watched as Hawkes kissed her on the cheek and told her how lovely she looked. Ellie moved on to Adam, who seemed unsure of just how exactly to greet her. He moved awkwardly before deciding on a hug, making Ellie giggle. White blossoms fell like snow around them and Danny hung back, walking slowly and watching. They were excitedly discussing the party and the gifts they had bought for Don. It amazed Danny how well Ellie fit into his life and how great that felt. Like finally finishing a jigsaw puzzle after finding the missing piece in the place you'd least expect.

Mac had gotten out of the car and stood smiling at the back door. He pulled it open as Ellie and Hawkes approached.

"Man, how did you get a girl like Ellie? I mean, she's actually..._nice_." Adam laughed.

Danny raised an eyebrow at Adam.

"I'm joking, dude!" Adam replied as he thought he saw Danny go to punch him on the arm.

"I really am lucky to have her. I don't know what I've done to deserve her looking after me."

"Well we're all lucky to have _you_. I thought you were checking out on us."

"Don't worry Adam." Danny put his arm around Adam's shoulders, before looking up at Ellie who was smiling back at him. "I ain't going anywhere."

--

_Ellie sat in the stand in a vast courtroom. The dark wooden panels surrounding her seemed to close in on her as she felt all eyes on her. A sudden wave of nausea threatened to overcome her as she looked over at the young woman, sitting behind a large desk, accompanied by a stern looking, older woman. Ellie was here to testify against the pale, drained looking girl. That girl was Frankie. Tears prickled at the edge of Ellie's eyes as the prosecutor began to speak to the jury. But as much as it pained her to give what little evidence she could remember, it had to be done. A glance beyond the young man addressing the 12 people who would decide Frankie's fate and Ellie could see Don and Mac sitting the public gallery. Her brother had convinced her to say her piece, she could explain it how she liked, but he said it was her duty to come forward with what she knew whether it helped Frankie's cause or not. _

"_Now, Miss Flack. You were present the morning of the murder of Crystal Kelly, is that correct?"_

_Ellie swallowed hard. "It is." _

"_In you're statement you said that you found Francis Montgomery with the bodies of Miss Kelly and another young woman, later identified as Karen Rossilini. Her death being found to be an accident caused by Miss Kelly herself. Can you detail what you remember after that to the court..."_

Ellie started as she felt a hand on her back.

"What are you doing out here all alone?" Carmella's strange New Jersey, yet still very Italian accent rang out in the still evening air. Ellie was on the balcony of the building, and had been staring out across the Hudson as the setting sun danced deep red flames across its grey, flowing waters. Ellie turned and smiled and leant her head against her mother's.

"Just needed some air...ended up getting distracted by the sunset and my thoughts."

"Well don't be doing too much thinking, that young man of yours will be getting lonely."

"I doubt that very much Ma, he's had several drinks already. Though I'd say its allowed, his first night out since he's been out of hospital." Ellie giggled, recalling the sheer look of satisfaction on Danny's face as he took his first sip of bourbon on the rocks.

"Drunk or not, he hasn't taken his eyes off you all night."

Ellie could feel her cheeks turning pink and her mother grasped her hand. "I'm going inside, I think I'll try organise the cake before everyone gets too worse for wear!"

--

Ellie leant back against the black railing of the balcony. It was still holding onto the warmth of the day as the sun finally sank beneath the horizon. She looked through the glass of the french doors and into the party. Every face had a smile. She was only a little surprised to see Stella place her hand over Mac's as she whispered something in his ear. At the next table Aiden had joined the rest of the CSIs. She was talking animatedly and appeared to be telling a story about Don as he was blushing profusely. Further round and Ellie spotted her dad. He was busy entertaining little Molly with his infamous magic tricks that only worked on kids. Beside him, Carmine and Joel were laughing. This night couldn't be more perfect for Don. Or Ellie for that matter. She gazed up at the first few stars appearing in the lilac sky and before she knew it, Don was at her side.

"Jesus Donnie! You scared me!" she cried clutching her chest.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You okay?"

"Yeah, just contemplating...things."

"Things?" Don raised an eyebrow. "What kinda things exactly?" Don leant on the railing as well, the ice in his honey-coloured drink clinking against the glass.

"Frankie and Crystal things. One of my best friends is going to jail because she drugged me and she helped protect a murderer. I still can't get my head round it."

"Yeah, its still totally crazy for me and I deal with this kinda shit everyday. I guess it was because two of the people I care about most in the world were nearly taken from me within the space of like a week." Don sighed deeply. "Yet I don't know if I'd change much of it. It reinforced several relationships and threw a lot into perspective."

"Yeah, in a strange way, I'm glad it happened. I would have never admitted that I had a huge crush on Danny."

"You and Danny would have happened anyway. And as weird as my best friend and my sister getting together is, you two are clearly meant to be." Don smiled as he saw that Danny had managed to coax Adam into taking a shot of a dark liquor of some kind. Ellie spotted this too and the siblings shared a laugh as Adam winced and stuck his tongue out. "Man, Danny is pretty wasted already."

"You're getting there yourself." Ellie grinned and pulled her slightly inebriated brother into a hug.

"I am not!" he replied.

"You always do this when you're drunk - deny it like its a bad thing."

Don shrugged. "As a cop I have to be a fine upstanding member of the communrity."

"Communrity?!"

"Okay! I'm drunk and I love it! Do you know how little I get to do this these days?! Once Vitale has gone down - I am taking a vacation."

Ellie's insides still turned to ice at mention of Johnny Vitale or any of his crew. She was also having to give evidence in court at Jackie and Christopher's abduction and attempted murder trials. Don read her like a book and took hold of the nape of her neck.

"You'll do fine, I promise. They can't hurt you while me and Danny are around."

Ellie smiled and nodded. "I know."

"Anyway, back in there with you missy! I hear its some dude's birthday and by the looks of things, its cake time!"

Ellie grinned and shook her head as she watched Don stumble over the threshold before following him inside.

--

**Fin.**

**The End.**

**Kapoot!**

**Thank you so much to everyone who stuck with me and read to the end, its meant a lot to me. I feel all accomplished now as this is my first totally complete fanfic! And it shouldn't be too long til I'm up and running with another story! :D**


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